23-year-old Antoine Demoitie surprised all the big French stars when the young Belgian won today's round of the Coupe de France, the hilly Tour du Finistere in Bretagne. Having taken the first win for his Wallonie-Bruxelles team, the Belgian may be on track for a big professional career.

Over the last few year, some may have noticed the name of Antoine Demoitie in the result sheets from some some rather big races. The young Belgian has mixed it up in bunch sprints against some of the best sprinters in the world and has taken some fine top 10 results.

Today, however, the young Belgian got his great breakthrough and proved that he has the skills to become a professional at one of the bigger teams. The young Belgian became a surprise winner of the Tour du Finistere, a hilly one-day race in Bretagne that counts as a round of the Coupe de France race series and so is highly coveted.

Demoitie proved that he is not just a fast finisher when he made it into the decisive 10-rider group on the hilly finishing circuit in Quimper. With Cofidis sacrificing Yoann Bagot to set up a sprint for Julien Simon, the group stayed away to the finish but the Cofidis duo had failed to take Demoitie into consideration.

The young Belgian made a gutsy move inside the final 2km that included a steep 500m climb with an average gradient of 11-12% and never looked back. He not only took the first win for his Wallonie team, he also took the biggest victory ever for the Belgian continental team.

"Early in the race, two riders attacked," he told Directvelo. "They stayed away to the Mur in Laz, after more than 120 kilometers. Behind it was quiet. We could enjoy the scenery which was really beautiful. But when the escapees were caught, the right break could go anytime. 

"Twenty riders got away, but that move was brought back before the final circuit. On the climb on the final circuit, there was an attack. I saw that I had a teammate [Laurent Evrard] in front and the big teams were well represented. It looked like a good moe, so I birdged across. 

"In the lead group, I had  a teammate that allowed me to just follow wheels. The sensations were good, but I was a little hesitant because there were good sprinters in the group. I wanted to do something a bit earlier. Yoann Bagot sacrificed himself for Julien Simon. He worked great. 

"With 8km to go, I was a little stressed as the peloton brought the gap down to 25 seconds. Then we took more time it was clear that it was going to be decided in a sprint from the breakaway. 

"On the last climb, I was at the back of the group. I put it on the large chainring to get ready. Finally, I attacked instinctively shortly before the summit. At 500 meters from the finish, I looked back and saw that I had a good lead, so I gave it my all. I was hoping for a nice result, but I also knew I could get the win.  At 200 meters from the finish, I looked around again and I still had a good lead. I could enjoy it. 

"We have always raced a lot in France. We have shown ourselves much in breakaways, but this year we have done well at the highest level. It was put on show in a race like this. 

"Since I joined the Wallonie team, I had not yet won. I came from a very big  2012 season [with 9 victories] when I started there. I hoped hoped that I could continue my momentum. I had good results, but I failed to win. 

"Since the beginning of the season, the team has worked well. This victory is a reward for the whole team. This is also the first victory in a race at this level since the creation of the team. So far we have won races of class 2. Now let's do the Tro Bro Leon and the Tour de Bretagne. I hope that Bretagne will give us more success."