Julien Simon missed out on a third victory at the GP Plumelec when he could only manage second in the tough uphill sprint in Bretagne.

"Before the sprint, Alexis Vuillermoz led Samuel Dumoulin, Luis Angel Maté and me," he told Directvelo. "He climbed very fast as we had a tailwind. Samuel Dumoulin made a gap behind Alexis Vuillermoz and told him to go. I thought Luis would be able to close it down but that was not the case. At 400 meters from the line, I went full gas. I cracked right behind Alexis Vuillermoz..."