Marc Fournier of FDJ joined Bernard Hinault (1975), Greg LeMond (1980), Thomas Löfkvist (2004) and Luke Durbridge (2012) in the circle of the selected few who have won the Circuit Sarthe-Pays de la Loire at the age of 20 or 21. He felt no fear in the conclusive stage won by Movistar's Juanjo Lobato in a bunch gallop ahead Marco Benfatto (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling).
"Milan-San Remo was my big goal of the first part of the season," said Lobato. "But I had a pain in my knee that prevented me from contesting it as I wanted [he finished 143rd]. Milan-San Remo is my favourite race so my morale was a bit down after that but this win here puts me back on track. It was a nervous sprint with no team clearly leading the pack. I didn't know where to position myself with 3km to go but with 1km to go, the team Roompot made a train and I followed their move, which was the way to win."
Six riders had attacked from kilometer zero: Delio Fernandez (Delko-Marseille), François Bidard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Chris Anker Sørensen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), Eliot Lietaer (Topsport-Vlaanderen), Daniele Ratto (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and once again Anton Vorobyev (Katusha) who was unstoppable after he won the individual time trial and the queen stage. But they didn't get more than two minutes advantage at km 80 as many teams were keen to come up with a bunch sprint finish.
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It suited FDJ who maintained Fournier well protected till the end. The Frenchman had enough lead to take time to celebrate with his team-mates as they crossed the finishing line seven seconds after Lobato. "This is a crazy experience," Fournier told Cyclingnews as soon as he stopped pedaling. "Riders with ten years as a pro like Benoît Vaugrenard and Sébastien Chavanel helping me win my first stage race, it's enormous. They've raced with their heart for me. It's something big!"
Fournier had little training prior to the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire as he resumed riding in January after an operation to his wrist following a crash on November 23rd. The first stage he won from a long solo breakaway was only his sixth day racing as a professional. It looks like France has a new champion in the making.
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