Two years after winning the race overall, Jimmy Engoulvent continued his love story with the 4 Days of Dunkirk when he won today's final stage of the race. Having held off the sprinters on the flat circuit in Dunkirk, the Europcar rider dedicated the victory to his former teammate Arnaud Coyot who tragically died in a car accident a few months ago.

Two year ago Jimmy Engoulvent won the Four Days of Dunkirk overall but this year he has not been in the GC mix. Already on the opening day he was caught out in the crosswinds and instead he had to focus on stage wins.

Having already been on the attack on stage 2, the new Europcar rider decided to hit out on what seemed to be an impossible missing when he joined the early break in today's flat final stage of the race. Ending with laps on a flat finishing circuit in Dunkirk, the stage usually comes down to a bunch sprint and the odds were certainly against the 5 attackers.

Together with the Cofidis duo of Julien Fouchard and Romain Zingle, Wouter Mol (Veranclassic) and Gediminas Bagdonas (Ag2r), Engoulvent decided to try to defy the odds and the five riders worked excellently together as they covered one lap after each other in Dunkirk. Behind, IAM and Giant-Shimano were chasing as hard as they could but the gap was coming down way too slowly.

When they entered the final lap of the 6.8km circuit, they were still around 50 seconds ahead and it seemed that they would have  a good chance of staying away if they could continue their collaboration. They did really well to do so and as Giant-Shimano had now disappeared, it seemed that IAM were losing the battle.

FDJ had decided to play it cool but with 4km to go, they decided to go for a third stage win with overall leader Arnaud Demare. Despite their hard work, however, the gap was still coming down too slowly.

Inside the final 2km, the break split in two when Zingle and Engoulvent took off, making it more likely that they could continue their collaboration. Fouchard fell completely off the pace and was swallowed up by the speeding peloton while the front duo passed the flamme rouge with a solid gap.

Engoulvent made a smart move 500m from the line when he moved to the other side of a traffic island that divided the road. While he sprinted down the right hand side of the road, Zingle found himself caught on the other side of the island and he failed to keep up with the French veteran who held on to take a beautiful solo victory.

"I attacked with a little more than 3 kilometres to go," he told L'Equipe. "We were 20 to 25 seconds ahead of the peloton. If we stayed five together and watched each other with a headwin, we were likely to get caught. I felt good. This is why I attacked. Romain Zingle followed me. We worked well together but I attacked 600-700 m from the line. It was easier for me and I could enjoy the victory.

"I knew the circuit. I like those races where everyone has to dig deep and where it comes down to strength. I'm an endurance rider and it was good for me that the peloton was not far behind as the race became more physical and less tactical. 

"I dedicate this victory Arnaud Coyot. I promised myself that I would dedicate my first win to him.

"The week was not difficult for me. I got caught out on the first day in the echelons. I couldn't follow FDJ.fr and so I was no longer in the running for the GC. The next day I attacked on the stage to Orchies. I gave my wheel in the stage to Cap Blanc-Nez. Yesterday, I cracked on a circuit that was a bit too hard for me.

"Now I do the Tour de Picardie, before I go on a training camp to prepare for the Boucles du Mayenne and the Tour Sof witzerland. For the Tour de France, I will see how I am in June. I was signed to lead out Bryan (Coquard). I try to play my role as soon as I get the chance."