Etoile: Ravard Wraps it Up!

Horrible week for breakaways comes to a close. 5 days. 5 sprints. Anthony Ravard says thank you very much.

Ravard wrapped up his overall GC title at the Etoile de Besseges after a fine week of sprinting in which he did not actually win a stage but finished 2nd twice and 3rd today.

And as we also learned in the Tour Down Under, time bonuses can add up.

Ravard, who started the day tied with Johnny Hoogerland at the top of the classification, was on a mission today and right away he took the 3 second bonus at the first intermediate sprint to grab the lead by 3 seconds. His 3rd place finish added an extra 4 to give him a 7 second advantage at the finish.

Marco Marcato started the day just 2 seconds behind Ravard and his own teammate Hoogerland and picked up 2 seconds on the day to pass Hoogerland and move into 2nd on the podium. Hoogerland held on to 3rd. Pierrick Fedrigo stayed in the main field and kept his 4th place while young superstar Jerome Coppel picked up 1 second on the bonus sprints to move into 5th by himself.

But not to be forgotten was the winner of the day, Said Haddou.
The powerful Frenchman from Europcar beat out Sven Jodts to the line to put himself on the stage for the day.

But, as was the trend for the week, the peloton did get a breakaway scare.

Vladmir Gusev got into a breakaway group along with a few other riders and they gained some late separation on the field. He took a time bonus, and needed just 24 seconds over the chasing peloton at the finish to steal the overall win but Ravard's AG2R squad buckled down up front to bring them back and set up for a sprint to the finish.

And their man did not disappoint.
Stage 5 Results
1. Said Haddou
2. Sven Jodts
3. Anthony Ravard

FINAL PODIUM
1. Anthony Ravard
2. Marco Marcato
3. Johnny Hoogerland