French fastman off to a torrid start, but has no illusions about tomorrow on Mont Faron
Vacansoleil's Romain Feillu took his third consecutive stage win at the Tour Méditerranéen in Biot on Saturday. The 26 year old Frenchman was once again fastest out of the bunch, but this time, the bunch was a whole lot smaller - five riders separated themselves from a thirty strong group over the course of the 1500 uphill meters to the line.
Afterwards, Feillu was overjoyed with his success, noting on his website that he has never managed three successive victories before.
"Tonight is bliss: three victories in a row - it hadn't happened to me even among the amateurs. I'll enjoy this moment."
The third win was certainly not a given for Feillu, as the lumpy profile, particularly the finishing climb, were not exactly idea for the French sprinter. Feillu had familiar roads in his favor though, and he used them to good use all day. While the finishing climb was unknown to him, he utilized a little bit of grinta to make up for his lack of climbing legs and knowledge of the slope.
"I knew the roads very well and use them often in training, but I did not know the uphill finish. The team helped me to keep the leader's jersey for another day, and in the finale, I clung to the wheel of Appollonio with all of my strength, and managed to pass him before the line."
The 2007 Tour of Britain winner shot to prominence in 2008 with a one day stint in the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France at 24 years old. The last two years have been steady years of improvement for the brother of Leopard Trek's Brice Feillu. Romain took three wins apiece over the last two seasons, including two consecutive editions of the GP de Fourmies. With his three straight stage triumphs at the Tour Méditerranéen, Feillu feels that he's finally seeing the hard work of the past few years come to a point where he can begin to experience the benefits of success.
"I am happy to finally reap the fruits of seasons of steady progress."
The winner of a stage of the Tour de lain and the Vuelta a Burgos last year has no illusions about what's to come tomorrow though - the Mont Faron will be the site where he loses his leader's jersey, no matter how deep he digs.
"Today was only 1.5 km [of climbing] though, which was possible, but there's no question about competing with the climbers in the five kilometer climb of Mont Faron tomorrow."
Overall success would be great, but with Feillu's abilities, three stages and taking the overall lead into the final day is nothing short of fantastic. The season has already been an excellent one for Feillu, and it's still less than a month old. Three stages at the Tour Med, 3rd at the GP Marseillaise, along with 6th, 4th, and 8th place stage finishes at the Tour Down Under - it's a dream start to 2011, and he's looking ahead to more. Belgium is the next target for the promising sprinter: Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne to be exact.
"Anyway, this success is sufficient for my happiness, and after the Tour Mediterranean, I'll take a few days easy before resuming and getting ready for Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne."