The French team Europcar holds high hopes for 24-year-old Tony Hurel, in his second full season with the team. Hurel delivered with his maiden victory on Sunday in the Polynormande one-day race, taking the sprint ahead of Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis, pictured) and Davy Commeyne (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony).
Dumoulin used his runner-up finish to take the lead in the Coupe de France, the French Road Cycling Cup, ahead of Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun). Simon crashed out of the race, though he is only reported to have suffered abrasions as a result.
Hurel took the bunch kick, reeling in a late attack by Lloyd Mondory (AG2R-La Mondiale), with plenty of daylight ahead of Dumoulin. Paris-Roubaix runner-up Sébastian Turgot (Europcar) was fourth.
Simon was hoping to build on his lead in the Coupe de France standings, after taking two wins in the Cup’s past five races. His Saur-Sojasun team has been major protagonists in many of the small French races.
They used Jonathan Hivert and David Le Lay in breakaways throughout the day though things seemed set up for a bunch sprint. Simon went down as the speeds were picking up toward the finish.
“Julian Simon has fallen quite heavily,” said Saur-Sojasun director Jean-Baptiste Quiclet. “He was scratched all over, and he was forced to abandon. Therefore all our race strategy collapsed. This is a big disappointment for Julien, he has not had any luck.”
In the Coupe de France team competition, FDJ-BigMat leads Bretagne-Schuller. Saur-Sojasun drops to third.
2012 Polynormande (157km) Results:
1, Tony Hurel (Europcar) in 3h39’29”
2, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis)
3, Davy Commeyne (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony)
4, Sébastian Turgot (Europcar)
5, Sven Vandousselaere (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
6, Mickael Delage (FDJ-BigMat)
7, Benoît Jarrier (Véranda Rideau-Super U)
8, Boris Zamine (Roubaix - Lille Metropole)
9, Pieter Jacobs (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator)
10, Cyrille Patoux (France)