On a treacherous day with plenty of wind and rain, Cyril Gautier was most capable of handling the hard conditions in the hilly Breton raceTour du Finistere. He beat his companions in an 8-man breakaway to take his first season victory ahead of Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil) and Anthony Geslin (FDJ).

Rain, cold and wind are said to be typical Breton weather, and the northwestern region of France did greet today's peloton in the Tour du Finistere with exactly those conditions. The hilly race with its numerous short, steep climbs on narrow, winding roads was turned into an epic affair due to the treacherous circumstances.

At the end of a hard race, an 8-man front group was left to battle it out for the victory. Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil), Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis), Remi Cusin (IAM Cycling), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Florian Senechal (Etixx-Ihned) had escaped the peloton's clutches in a very hilly portion of the course, and a diminished bunch was never able to bring back the escapees.

With two FDJ riders in the break and Geslin even the fastest of the 8 men, the French team was in a formidable position to take their 3rd victory on French soil in less than a week after Pierrick Fredrigo and Nacer Bouhanni won the Paris-Camembert and the GP  de Denain, respectively. However, Cusin knew that he had no chance in a final sprint against the 2005 worlds bronze medallist, and he attacked his companions inside the final 4km of the race.

He was joined by Jeannesson, Veuchelen and Gautier and all riders except Jeannesson tried desperately to hold off the rest of the group. Their hard effort was rewarded and they had to battle it out for the victory. Gautier turned out to be the strongest and he beat Veuchelen to take his first victory of the season while Geslin managed to catch Jeannesson and Cusin and took the final step on the podium.

Today's victory was the 13th for Europcar in an until now highly successful season and comes only 8 days after Pierre Rolland took home the overall victory in the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe.

On a treacherous day with plenty of wind and rain, Cyril Gautier was most capable of handling the hard conditions in the hilly Breton raceTour du Finistere. He beat his companions in an 8-man breakaway to take his first season victory ahead of Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil) and Anthony Geslin (FDJ).

Rain, cold and wind are said to be typical Breton weather, and the northwestern region of France did greet today's peloton in the Tour du Finistere with exactly those conditions. The hilly race with its numerous short, steep climbs on narrow, winding roads was turned into an epic affair due to the treacherous circumstances.

At the end of a hard race, an 8-man front group was left to battle it out for the victory. Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil), Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis), Remi Cusin (IAM Cycling), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Florian Senechal (Etixx-Ihned) had escaped the peloton's clutches in a very hilly portion of the course, and a diminished bunch was never able to bring back the escapees.

With two FDJ riders in the break and Geslin even the fastest of the 8 men, the French team was in a formidable position to take their 3rd victory on French soil in less than a week after Pierrick Fredrigo and Nacer Bouhanni won the Paris-Camembert and the GP  de Denain, respectively. However, Cusin knew that he had no chance in a final sprint against the 2005 worlds bronze medallist, and he attacked his companions inside the final 4km of the race.

He was joined by Jeannesson, Veuchelen and Gautier and all riders except Jeannesson tried desperately to hold off the rest of the group. Their hard effort was rewarded and they had to battle it out for the victory. Gautier turned out to be the strongest and he beat Veuchelen to take his first victory of the season while Geslin managed to catch Jeannesson and Cusin and took the final step on the podium.

Today's victory was the 13th for Europcar in an until now highly successful season and comes only 8 days after Pierre Rolland took home the overall victory in the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe.

Result:

1. Cyril Gautier 4.42.20

2. Frederik Veuchelen

3. Anthony Geslin

4. Remi Cusin

5. Arnold Jeannesson

6. Florian Senechal

7. Tim Declercq

8. Christophe Le Mevel

9. Cedric Pineau +2.18

10. Yannick Martinez +2.22