In his first professional season, Antoine Duchesne got close to a very big victory in yesterday's La Polynormande which counts as the 12th round of the prestigious Coupe de France. Despite having come up short against Jan Ghyselinck in the finale, the young Canadian has no regrets and is just pleased to have done a smart race.

In his first few months at the professional level, Antoine Duchesne has been working as a Europcar domestique but yesterday he found himself in a position to ride for himself. In La Polynormande, he was the only rider from his team to make it into the 14-rider group that decided the race.

Duchesne bridged the gap to Jan Ghyselinck and the pair managed to stay away to the finish. Unfortunately, the Belgian dropped his Canadian companion with 500m to go, ruining Duchesne's opportunity to win the race. Nonetheless, he was pleased with his best performance at the professional level.

"I'm really satisfied," he told Directvelo. "I had not raced for a long time. Last weekend I started the Tour de Wallonie, where I felt good. So I had ambitions in this race.

"Early in the race, I did not make useless efforts. I saved my energy. I think I was smart by not responding to all the attacks in the finale. In the past, I was often in this situation. Not being climber and not having a very good speed, I have to go in breakaways. 

"In this race I have gained experience. When I got to the last climb, I was in a bad positioned. I was at the end of the group. 5km from the finish, I rejoined Ghyselinck. We worked well together. I knew everyone was completely spent behind us. And if we were able to keep a good pace, we would go to the finish. 

"When Jan Ghyselinck attacked 500 meters from the line, I could not follow him. He was really stronger. So I do not have any regrets. 

"This is one of my better results. I also regard my 5th place in a stage of the 2013 Tour of Alberta that was one by Cadel Evans, as one of my highlights."