Yauheni Hutarovich of FDJ put the first stamp on the European stage racing season with a sprint victory at the Etoile de Besseges Wednesday afternoon. Hutarovich was fastest in a group of over 80 riders, beating out AG2R's Anthony Ravard and Vacansoleil's Bjorne Leukemans to the line. Leukemans really isn't considered to be a sprinter, but after Romain Feillu decided not to race this week Vacansoleil was left without their top guy and he was apparently in the best position. Props to him for giving it a go and getting himself in a good position for the rest of the week.
Plenty of attacks today, with the daily breakaway (which featured Johnny Hoogerland) forming on the day's biggest climb (Cote de la Tour) but also got caught rather early.
A few riders tried solo attacks and at one time there was a large group of riders separated, but the peloton regrouped in the end and brought it all together for one big bunch finish.
Many of the big names, including Jerome Coppel, Jeremy Roy, Thomas Voeckler, Maxime Bouet, Cyril Gautier and many more finished at s/t but some were not so lucky.
2010 champ Samuel Dumoulin finished in the Grupetto and lost a whopping 4 and a half minutes on the day. I don't see him making that kind of ground up without a miracle of some kind. His teammate Nicolas Vogondy also finished with him and lost major time.But today was all about Hutarovich and his FDJ team. What a start to the season they're having, with Jeremy Roy also winning the GP Marseillaise on Sunday. It should be intriguing to watch whether they protect Hutarovich as the race leader or focus on other attacks on tomorrow's stage, which features some early climbs but a decent run in to the finish.
Stage Results/GC
1. Yauheni Hutarovich
2. Anthony Ravard
3. Bjorne Leukemans
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