On Wednesday’s double stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM) was able to defend his lead in the morning road race by taking third place in a sprint won by Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) in front of Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and Pelucchi.

However, in the afternoon’s 6.8 km time trial he lost hold of the yellow jersey when Luke Durbrigde (Ornica-GreenEdge) scorched the course to take the stage and the overall lead.

Although sorry to lose the lead, the Swiss pro team revelled in the opportunity to defend the jersey in the morning’s road stage. “I am proud to have helped write this page in the history of IAM Cycling by winning its first road stage. But it was also a first for me because I had never led a stage race before,” Pelucchi said. “I will not soon forget those magic moments. I lost the lead because I am not an expert at time trialling, but I still have the Green Points Jersey to defend. That will certainly prove to be powerful motivation for these next days.”