Armindo Fonseca got close to his first win when he finished third in today's Tour du Finistere. Having already finished 2nd in the 2011 edition of the race, the fast Frenchman was disappointed to again miss out on a victory.

For the past few years, Armindo Fonseca has proved that he has all the skills to become one of the best French bike riders in hilly races. During his first four seasons as a professional, he has shown off a solid pair of climbing legs and his fast sprint makes him an obvious danger at the end of a hard race.

Those skills have got him close to a big win several times and today he was again in the mix in one of the most important home races for his Bretagne team, the Tour du Finistere. Finishing with four laps of a hard circuit in Quimper with two climbs - one of them located less than 2km from the line - the race suited Fonseca down to the ground and had marked his first major result as a professional when he finished 2nd in 2011 while riding as a neo-professional.

Fonseca made it into the right 10-rider break on the finishing circuit and benefited from hard work from Yoann Bagot who sacrificed himself for Cofidis teammate Julien Simon. That was enough to make sure that the break stayed away to the finish where all eyes were on Fonseca and Simon to sprint it out for the win.

However, Antoine Demoitie from the small Wallonie-Bruxelles created a big surprise when he launched a gutsy move near the top of the final climb. The group never managed to catch the young Belgian and so Fonseca had to settle for 3rd after being beaten by Simon in the sprint.

"It is a disappointment," he said. "The team controlled the race as it should and was present in all escapes near the end of the race. With three laps remaining, two riders got away. Maxime Daniel set off in pursuit, and I joined him. We caught the two leaders.

"A small group with Julian Simon joined us. It felt like a good breakaway. I felt good but Julian Simon was really strong today. I knew he would be hard to beat. Antoine Demoitié played it smartly in the final kilometre. He caught us by surprise.

"My next races will be the Roue Tourangeele, the Frankfurt Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Somme. Then I take a break to prepare for the Tour de France."

"Armindo is disappointed," sports director Roger Trekin said. "This morning at the briefing, he aimed at the victory because we knew there was a possibility to win. He got third, and that's how it is but the disappointment is still there. 

"He has had great results but has not yet managed to win. He is obviously disappointed. But we must also say that Armindo was second in the sprint. If he had won the sprint behind the Belgian, he would have had  more frustrations. He was beaten by a very good Antoine Demoitié and a very good Julien Simon. 

"Everyone worked well. Benjamin Le Montagner chased for 120 kilometres to reduce the gap and everyone did his job later in the race. It might have been necessary to have a second team rider in the break, preferably Brice Feillu as he felt very good today."