Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie claimed his fourth win of the year, after two stages at the Etoile de Bessèges and the Route Adélie last week, as he outsprinted Italy's Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and Dutchman Raymond Kreder (Roompot-Oranje Peloton). French sensation Marc Fournier of FDJ retained the yellow jersey ahead of the afternoon's 6.8km time trial.
"I remembered my defeat against Nacer Bouhanni here three years ago," Coquard said. "There's a dip under a bridge before the line that makes this sprint special. This time around, I went into it with a maximum of speed. I rode the finale like a track rider."
Three attackers looked like they might mimick Fournier in the short morning stage: Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Loïc Chetout (Cofidis) and Rémy Di Gregorio (Delko-Marseille). They got reeled in within the last finishing circuit of 6.8km which is also the course of the afternoon time trial.
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"I wouldn't say it was a disillusion to not sprint for the win yesterday because we chose to not ride behind the breakaway when we realized that nobody would help us," Coquard said. "But we didn't want to repeat the same mistake today. We rode at perfection. Angelo Tulik led me out and I could launch my sprint with 250m to go."
"I felt a bit sleepy in the morning at the beginning of the race," overall leader Fournier noted. "Then I rode without taking any risk, thinking of the time trial, which is normally something I'm quite good at."
The European champion for individual pursuit was also the runner up at the French championship for U23 individual time trial last year. He's got a lead of 2:20 over Coquard and 2:28 over Norway's Sondre Holst Enger from IAM Cycling ahead of the time trial. Tiago Machado of Katusha is probably a favorite in the absence of the likes of Adriano Malori, Alex Dowsett, Rohan Dennis and Luke Durbridge, who have put their mark on this now traditional 6.8km effort in the streets of Angers. The pro peloton will return in July at the Tour de France's stage 3.
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