Three riders of the Russian Team Katusha entered the top 10 of the first stage of the 2.1 two-day race Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var-Matin. Simon Špilak was 6th, Alexey Tsatevich took 7th while Angel Vicioso closed out the top 10. The stage was held in bad weather conditions – it was very cold at not more than 7 – 8C and rainy throughout the day.

"We expected the final climb to be harder, but in reality we had a powerful uphill bunch sprint. But for the second place only, because one of the riders from the early break managed to stay in front and to win the stage. In the final there were a lot of Katusha riders in the main bunch and if the last kilometers would have been harder, we could have attacked.  However, we have three riders in the top 10 and I think this is a good result. We will see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be much better than today, because today it was really cold and rainy," said Team Katusha sports directorGennady Mikhaylov.

Ben Gastauer from AG2R La Mondiale became the winner on the 164,6 km stage from Le Cannet-des-Maures to Seillans.  He was a part of the early break and was able to attack before the final climb to win ahead the main peloton, which finished 7 seconds later.

Second place went to Jonathan Hivert from Bretagne – Séché Environnement, while Philippe Gilbert from BMC closed the daily podium with third place.

Tomorrow the second and last stage of the Tour Cycliste International du Haut Var-Matin will be held – the peloton will ride 194,7 km around Draguignan.