After breaking his femur in December, Arnaud Gerard has had a long road back to his top level but today he proved that he is slowly getting there when he finished 7th in Classique Loire-Atlantique. The Bretagne rider now hopes to continue the upwards trend and hit his peak condition in April.

It has been a difficult start to the season for one of Arnaud Gerard. Usually one of the strongest riders on the Bretagne team, the former stage winner in Paris-Nice has been setback by a broken femur sustatined back in December.

Today Gerard proved that he is getting back into form when he finished 7th in the Classique Loire-Atlantique which is the second round of the season-long Coupe de France race series. He made it into the original 19-rider breakaway which was just metres from getting caught at the midpoint of the race. 12 of the riders, including Gerard, refused to give up and managed to reopen their advantage sufficiently to stay away to the finish.

With 7km to go, AlexisGougeard made a solo attack and even though he was chased hard by Kenneth Vanbilsen and Wesley Kreder, he managed to stay clear to take a big solo win. Gerard finished in a group 27 seconds later and rolled across the line in 7th.

"Given the wind there was today, it was better to be in the front, especially since we were three from the team in the first breakaway," he said, referring to the fact that Christophe Laborie and Benjamin Le Montagner had made the original group. "It's a shame that we lost two from the team as it would have been a little more simple with more riders in the group.

"I'm still happy because the condition is coming back. This is positive. We must not forget that I was on crutches for three weeks. I didn't return to training before January 13. The condition is coming nicely along. Now I hope to be on a roll to be at my best form throughout the month of April."

"The day was difficult," he added to Directvelo. "It was somehow easier to stay in front than to be in the peloton behind. We struggled to make the gap for about 80 kilometers. The peloton would not let us get clear. We have hardly had more than a minute.

"Then we were down to 12. The gap quickly rose to three minutes. With two laps to go, I thought we had a chance. Alexis Gougeard attacked on the penultimate climb. He didn't look back. At this point it was a bit of a gamble. 

"I cannot be satisfied with this 7th place. I would have preferred a better result. But I was injured inDecember. I had a fractured femur. I was on crutches for three weeks. For this reason, I did not do Paris-Nice. The condition was not optimal and it would have been too much. It may be the same again tomorrow at Cholet-Pays de Loire. A group should escape but unlike today it is unlikely to stay away."