Koldo Fernández victorious at the Tour de Vendée
The 12th and final race in the French Cup, the Tour de Vendée, took 89 riders through a 206km trek from Montaigu to La Roche Sur Yon. Koldo Fernández was the first to cross the finish line,
followed closely by Davide Appollonio and Jonathan Hivert at the head of a 27-man bunch. The first 81 riders finished within one minute, while the Cervelo TestTeam riders Alexander Wetterhall and Joaquin Novoa Menedez finished in 88th and 89th
with 7:33 and 8:19 respectively. A further 36 riders failed to finish the race.
"I am very content, as it is really hard to get a win," said Fernández. "Winning is difficult and when there is an opportunity you have to take it. Racing the Vuelta a España gives you a good form. This
week I could rest and I knew that I would have good legs."
Fernández, for the Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi, took the 17th team victory this season, and is targeting an 18th at the Paris-Bourges. Like many riders in the race, including Thomas
Voeckler and Appollonia’s lead-out man Heinrich Haussler, he was disappointed not to be chosen for the World Championships by his national team.
"Seeing the form that I have, it hurts that I am not going to the World Championships, but there is no need to revisit this subject any longer. I was lacking consistency in the first part of the season.
I was unlucky with the ear infection and the crashes, but in the second part I was more consistent and I obtained some results."
Voeckler was part of the early 11-man break and won the first intermediate sprint and was runner-up in the second. His aggressive performance in Vendée was inspired by the ongoing search for a sponsor
for his team Bbox Bouygues Telecom. The French national champion has set out to prove that the team is still alive, despite their funding issues and the departure of many of the other top performers.
"I tried at the beginning, I tried in the middle and I tried at the end of the race but it just didn't work out," said Voeckler. "Every year there are a lot of people at the Tour de Vendée but this time
there were even more. It probably has something to do with the fact that people want to see our team at the Tour de Vendée and at the start of the Tour de France again next year."
Colombian Leonardo Duque finished in 10th in the race but earned the overall victory of the French Cup, one point ahead of seventh-place finisher Florian Vachon.
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