It has been a testing time for Yauheni Hutarovich since he joined Ag2r almost 18 months ago as the Belarusian has been unable to be his usual winning self in his new colours. Today he finally broke the drought when he won the GP de la Somme and the victory came as a huge relief for the fast sprinter.
When they signed Yauheni Hutarovich to strengthen their sprinting squad, Ag2r probably thought that they had added a real winning machine to their roster. After all, the Belarusian had taken no less than 19 wins in major UCI races, among them a big stage win at the Vuelta a Espana, and had finished on the podium in some of the biggest classics for the sprinters.
However, things have not unfolded in the way Hutarovich and Ag2r had hoped. In 2013, his first year with the tea, he failed to win a single race and this year it hasn't been any better for the fast sprinter. When he lined up at today's Grand Prix de la Somme, he hadn't won a race since he took two consecutive bunch sprint victories at the 2012 Tour de l'Ain almost two years ago.
However, his drought has finally come to an end after he won today's race which is a prestigious round of the important Coupe de France race series. Having already shown excellent condition over the last few weeks, especially in last week's La Roue Tourangelle where he finished 2nd after riding a really good race under harsh conditions, he finally capitalized from his strength when the GP de la Somme came down to the expected bunch sprint.
A big crash left just 50 riders to contest the sprint but Hutarovich was always well-positioned and in the final dash to the line, he finally got the chance to taste victory again. He held off Tom Van Asbroeck and Yannick Martinez in the final dash to the line to continue the fantastic run of success for his Ag2r team.
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