Christophe Kern has had a few difficult seasons but today he proved that he may get back to the level that saw him win a stage in the 2011 Criterium du Duaphiné. Having finished fourth in the first stage of the Tour du Limousin, the Frenchman is now in a great position to target the overall victory.

A few years ago Christophe Kern won a stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné and put in some stunning rides in the Tour de France that made him look like a future star. Since then injuries have hampered him significantly and he has berely been able to complete any races.

In the Tour de Wallonie and Tour de Pologne he showed signs that he was getting back into form and today he took his first major result of the season when he finished fourth in the first stage of the Tour du Limousin. He even attacked on the final climb of the day but was caught by his companions in the decisive 19-rider move before the finish.

"The stage was very hard," he told Directvelo .It kept going up and down, it was very technical. I thought we would have a quiet day, with four escapees. But FDJ.fr decided otherwise. A new group got clear and in that group we had Kevin (Reza) and Cyril (Gautier). AG2R La Mondiale chased. Then Samuel Dumoulin attacked. I joined him. We rejoined the front group. 

"I tried at the bottom of the last climb but I had cramps on thetop. I was caught on the descent but I raced bravely. Leukemans made a good attack, it was a smart move by him."