Team Argos-Shimano rider François Parisien was the fastest in a chaotic bunch sprint on the streets of Lleida today, taking the victory in the fifth stage of the Volta a Catalunya. The Canadian rider outsprinted Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2R La Mondiale) and Stéphane Poulhies (Cofidis).

After two very tough stages, today’s route was less hilly. Early in the race Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) and Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) escaped out of the bunch. The twosome reached a maximum gap of 4 minutes before being caught by the bunch 15 km from the finish. From then on it was up to the sprinters’ trains to lead out their sprinters. Team Argos-Shimano was working for Parisien, who finished the job and surprised all the other competitors.

“We knew after two difficult days in the mountains that today could be a good day for us,” said sports manager Addy Engels. “There was a lot of fighting during the race to establish a breakaway, and in the end there was a break of two riders, which was good for us because then we knew the stage would most likely end in a sprint.”

A very happy Parisien discussed his win today: “I still can’t believe that I won today. This is the biggest win of my career. But what made it even better was the amazing teamwork. Today we executed our plan perfectly. Yesterday we studied the final 3 km for a long time. It was important that we [would] be at the front with 3 km to go, and Patrick Gretsch brought us to the front right on schedule. After that it was up to Georg Preidler and Albert Timmer to keep the speed high. The guys went 65 km an hour. From our reconnaissance last night we knew it would be crucial to go through the last corner in the top three. We did, and Albert led me out perfectly in the final metres. Everybody followed the plan and I finished it. It was unbelievably strong teamwork, and I am very proud to win my first bunch sprint ever.”