Florian Vachon (Bretagne) was set to lead out his teammate Armindo Fonseca in the sprint at the end of today's Boucles du Sud-Ardeche but benefited from a sudden opportunity when his sprinter crashed in the final corner. The incident opened a gap that Vachon maintained to the finish and he dedicated the win to his unfortunate teammate.

An in-form Armindo Fonseca has come close to his first win of the season on several occasions in 2014 and today he had another big chance when a small 40-rider group should decide today's Boucles du Sud-Ardeche. Florian Vachon was his final lead-out man but things didn't pan out as expected.

When Vachon hit the front to position his teammate, Fonseca crashed in the final corner, opening a gap in the proces. Vachon was quick to realize what had happened and kept his speed all the way to the finish to take the first win for his Bretagne team in 2014.

"It's great for the team because we have opened our account," Vachon said. "I have a little regret for Armindo who had the legs today. He would surely have won. I crashed in the final corner 100m from the finish so it is also his victory today. I have a thought for him.

"We have had a good momentum since the beginning of the season. There was a great desire to benefit from that in the whole team. And voila, it's done! It's just a few days before the start of Paris-Nice and we can start the race with a victory, it will be good for squad."

"It was very fast on the penultimate climb," he added to Directvelo. "We didn't have a rider in the front group. We caught the six escapess at the flamme rouge. I had planned to lead out Armindo Fonseca in the sprint. He rides well at the moment and has been close to a victory since the beginning of the season. So I took the lead but he crashed in the final corner. He took the inside and fell forward. It opened a gap and I gave it everything to the line.

"To win in early March bodes really well for the rest of the season. The same happened two years ago and I hope to continue this momentum. The team was selected for the Tour de France and it changes a lot of things in the season for the team whether we do the Tour or not. It is a big event in our season.

"From next weekend, I will do Pairs-Nice. Then I will race at the Classique Loire-Atlantique adn the Criterium International. To win today gives me confidence."

Most of today's riders will be back in action in tomorrow's La Drome Classic.