Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne) won the Tour du Doubs after a hotly contested race that marked the return of Alexandre Geniez (9th) and Thibaut Pinot (14th). According to FDJ sports director Julien Pinot, it was both encouraging and frustrating. 

"This round of the Coupe de France was a close race," he said. "It was not until 80 kilometers was done that the right breakaway emerged. Before that, all the riders of the team were very active.The leading group consisted of good riders , Péraud (ag2r-La Mondiale), Molard (Cofidis), Sepulveda and Géniez were there. The gap to the peloton was quickly established but before that it was hard."

Unable to follow everyone, Alexandre Géniez decided to mark Péraud.

"In my opinion Péraud did not work a lot and Alex thought it was a bluff. Both were tired. They approached the last climb 25 seconds behind the Sepulveda group and it was impossible to get back. It's a shame because Alex had the legs to win. Behind, Thibaut was the top ranked rider among those who were not in the break. At the finish, he thanked Elie Gesbert who positioned him for the climb. There Latour attacked.

Most of the riders will  be back in action in tomorrow's GP de Wallonie.

"It  is also good for Alexandre Géniez who had not raced since the Tour de l'Ain and for Thibaut who had not raced since the pre-Olympic. They will compete in Wallonia, Tour du Gevaudan, the Italian semi-classics and the Tour of Lombardy on October 3. It's a good comeback."

"Once the breakaway took off, the race was not over," Pinot told Directvelo. "I was there to work. I saw it as a good workout. I have not raced for a month, but I was pretty confident about my race. I have trained well in recent weeks. I'm pretty happy with my race today. 

"Next week I will participate in the Grand Prix de Wallonie and the Championship of Flanders. In these races, I'm going to do many kilometers to prepare for the Tour of Lombardy. I'll ride before the races in order to have six hours of riding at the end of my day. 

"The following weekend I will do the Tour du Gevaudan. Then 8 days later we have the Tour of Lombardy. I hope I will not be too far from my peak form. There will be an uphill finish on the first day, I hope to do something good there."