FDJ leading the strung out peloton, shutting down the early breaks.



After some early skirmishes, with 185 KM to go, we have one man ahead of the peloton. That man is Pello Bilbao, he quickly establishes a 2'00 gap.

Will we see any more action?

We sure will.


165 KM to go.

Europcar decide to make this race as hard as possible, early on. Very early on! Khamphan is ordered to the front of the peloton and really lays down the power, Bilbao's advantage soon crumbles and he is brought back.



Few could have predicted what would ensue in the next 100 kilometres. A furore of attacks, from many quality names, really animates the race.

Ponzi, Matthews, Gasparotto, Andrews, Urtasun and Sijmens were the next group to try and get away and were prominent in the subsequent moves.


Hard times for those at the rear.

The constant attacking prompts the sprinter teams into action. No one wants a break to establish today it seems. This puts many riders in the hurt locker towards the rear of the peloton, which is mainly occupied by MTN riders!


110 KM to go.

After a move by Hutarovich and Wynants is brought back we see a big attack from Impey, Gasparotto and Hunter. But, to no avail. The pace has been right up there for the last 50 kilometres, yet the peloton is still all together.

Surely, it is only a matter of time before the elastic snaps.


76 KM to go.

The biggest name dropped? ....

Rudy Verboven! The Euskaltel rider will rely on the likes of the Greek champ to bring him back into contention.

However, Rudy gets a second chance. The Wynants group is soon brought back and both peloton and gruppeto merge. But if he was dropped here, well - ... it doesn't bode well.


60 KM to go.

Brouwer hanging on at the rear of the 44 man peloton.

With 30 KM to go the peloton snaps, once again, into a smaller group as the sprinter teams chase the break.

Verboven and the likes of Matthews & Impey are once again dropped.


Offredo leads the peloton.

All breaks are nullified with 22 KM to go. A 41 man group of favourites leads the race. The next move .....


All back together.

The 41 man group swells to over 150 riders with 17 KM to go thanks to a big slow down. Speeds, at this stage, are under 30 km/h on the flat.


BOOM!

Lars Boom senses the time is right and makes a big, stinging, attack with 14 KM to go. Capitalising on the slow down in the peloton. A good move.


10 KM to go: Boom @ '54.

Moinard is left to do much of the chasing, after such a hard day are there any domestiques left to close down Boom? Boom quickly pulls out a formidable advantage.

And there is no sign of him slowing up.


6 KM to go.

Boom still leads with the best part of a minute of an advantage. Degenkolb, with Kittel in his wheel, leads the peloton over the last incline of the race. But, there is no team willing, or capable, to take up the chase.

The peloton soon shatters, once more into a group of around 40 riders. Once more with no Verboven and, shockingly, no NetApp - Endura riders.



On the long stretches of road, Boom is in sight. But, the finish beckons. Boom looks to have timed this one perfectly.



Kittel, launches his final sprint early. Really early. There are still over 300 meters to go. Demare and Coquard try to follow in the wheel.


Boom wins Paris - Tours!

One real exciting race wraps up the season as Boom takes the win. After such an aggressive day of racing it is very fitting that a late attack claims the win.


Battle for second.

The sprint will settle the rest of the positions. With 100 meters to go Kittel is the best of the rest.



But Bozic wins the sprint for second, which is testament to the really hard race we had today. Degenkolb sprints for 3rd place as Kittel ended up in 10th, so much for the expected Argos win.

Ciolek, came from way back, for fourth and Boom's teammate, Brouwer, rounds out the top 5.



SEASON COMPLETE!!