Bryan Coquard of Direct Energie ended a long drought as he claimed stage 2 in the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire, one and a half months after his last success on stage 4 in the Vuelta a Andalucia. A home favourite, he out-sprinted Italy's Matteo Malucelli of Androni Giocattoli and Cofidis' Clément Venturini in Angers. However, fourth on the line, stage 1 winner Justin Jules of WB Veranclassic, retained the overall lead before the afternoon individual time trial (6.6km).
"I was the favourite today so I'm happy to fulfill the requirements," Coquard reacted. "I know this finale very well. I win here for the second year running. Yesterday we rode at the front all day but it was a difficult stage because of the rain. After I took part in the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, racing as soon as Tuesday left me a bit tired. I missed out on the win yesterday. I was disappointed."
"I wanted to do well here," Coquard added. "Angers is the town of my lead out man Angelo Tulik who brought me to the front at perfection today. It was also the town of my former teammate Romain Guyot [who died in a training accident one year ago] so this win is for him. It's also the town of my coach [Fabien Aoustin]."
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It was Coquard's dream to win stage 3 of last year's Tour de France in Angers but Mark Cavendish and André Greipel got there first. The fast Frenchman, 24, who rides for Pro Continental outfit Direct Energie has thirty wins under his belt since he turned pro in 2013 after taking the silver medal for omnium at the London Olympics but he's yet to win a race in the WorldTour.
"[Teammate] Thomas [Voeckler] perfectly knows the game of the peloton chasing the breakaway," he argued. "He said the escapees [Dorian Godon of Cofidis and Fernando Orjuela from Manzana-Postobon] shouldn't have more than thirty seconds at the entrance of the circuit in Angers. It's been a good day for us. All the guys have played their role. I think many people are impressed by our neo pro Paul Ourselin. We're relieved. The Circuit de la Sarthe is now a successful one for us but it's not over. [Etoile de Bessèges and Settimana Coppi & Bartali winner] Lilian Calmejane has ambitions on GC and we'll now work on them."
Jules was pleased to keep the yellow jersey for the time trial. "Finishing fourth, I missed out on the time bonus but with such a finale, to be well placed was already something positive," the WB Veranclassic rider said. "I didn't manage to pass Bryan. It also happens to me to win fast sprints as well but it's true that uphill finales like yesterday suit me better."
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