Sitting twenty seconds behind race leader Pierre Rolland (Europcar) heading into the concluding time trial, former world under 23 championship bronze medallist Jerome Coppel used his skill against the clock to overcome his deficit, but admitted afterwards that he was surprised to do so.
“We could not imagine a better start to the season,” he said at the end of the Étoile de Bessèges, which he won by a clear margin. “It's very good for confidence and it shows that the winter work has paid off. The main objective remains Paris-Nice, but it's always good to win a stage race like Bésseges.
“At the start of the time trial, Pierre Rolland had a big lead and I was aiming primarily for the stage win. For Saur Sojasun, the season starts strongly…”
Rolland took the race lead after winning stage three and then defended it yesterday. He started this morning’s 82 kilometre stage – the first of two split stages today – with a six second advantage over Franck Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau U) and eight on Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling).
The stage was due to finish at the top of the Col de la Baraque but the artic weather conditions which had affected the earlier stages struck again. Ice on the roads meant that the route had to be changed, with the riders only covering the lower slopes of the climb and then travelling to a new finish in Ales.
Soon after the start Jonathan Hivert (Saur Sojasun), Renaud Dion (Bretagne Schuller) and Frédéric Amorison (Landbouwkrediet) clipped away and held a slight lead for a long time.
Hivert made his bid for glory on the shortened climb and was 44 seconds clear with ten kilometres to go. He was hauled back, though, and in the gallop to the line Stéphane Poulhiès (Saur-Sojasun) repeated the win he took last year on the same route. He finished ahead of Justin Jules (Veranda Rideau U), Bobbie Traksel (Landbouwkrediet) and a large group; Rolland and Coppel also finished in this group, thus preserving the 20 second difference.
The time trial changed everything, though, with Coppel showing superb form from the off and steadily chomping away at the time gap. He covered the 9.7 kilometre course in 14 minutes 25 seconds, some 26 seconds faster than Rein Taaramae (Cofidis Le Crédit en Ligne) and six more seconds ahead of Ag2r La Mondiale’s Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale).
Rolland did what he could to hang on but could only manage tenth, 48 seconds off the winning time.
“We must savor these days, they are rare!” said Saur Sojasun directeur sportif Stéphane Heulot. “I followed Jerome in the time trial, and when I saw him starting, I immediately realized that he was going very fast. He immediately got into his rhythm and he literally swallowed up the two kilometres of the final climb.
“It was truly a high-level performance. Jerome was right on the edge and for him it’s also his way of thanking the whole team, who did a lot of work throughout the week.”
The final result saw Coppel end up 25 seconds ahead of closest GC challenger Vermeulen and 26 up on Taaramae. Rolland dropped to fourth, 28 seconds back.