Pierre Luc Perichon achieved one of the greatest results of his career when he finished third in the Tour du Doubs. The Frenchman was on team duties as he had to defend Bretagne's overall lead in the Coupe de France.

Pierre Luc Perichon is usually playing the role of loyal domestique but yesterday his own personal interests coincided with those of his Bretagne team. The Frenchman was part of the successful breakaway in the Tour du Doubs and was allowed to go for the win to defend Bretagne's lead in the Coupe du France.

In the end, he came away with third after winning the sprint behind Rein Taaramae and Angelo Tulik.

"I had a job to protect our lead in the Coupe de France," he todl Directvelo. "With Arnaud Gerard, we took turns joining the moves when the break split in two. Then I had to watch Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) for the teams classification. I saved  all my strength for the climb of Larmont.

"I'm no longer in my best condition and physically I was not able to keep up with Taaramae. Pinot caught me at the top. I launched my sprint at 300-350 meters to go. 

"I'm happy with this 3rd place. I consider it my first real participation in this event because I crashed after 15 km in 2012. Since the beginning of the season, I have always been there but I never win as evidenced by my 4th at Tro Bro Leon and 5th on the first stage of the Tour de Bretagne. My next races  are the GP de Wallonie, the GP Isbergues and probably the French track championships."