Part 1

140km to go

A lot of people gathered at the start of the first one-day race of the season. Welcome to France, welcome to the GP La Marseillaise. 120 riders are starting today, but only 1 can win. The question: Who?

138km to go

And we're off! And immediately after the starting signal, someone tries to attack. It's Heimdal Hagg from Team NetApp!

132km to go

We're not even 10 kilometers into this race, but it's chaotic already! A lot of riders are trying to get away from the peleton.

128km to go

There is a 15-man break at the moment, but the peleton won't let them go. For 3 riders, the pace is too low, so decide to attack out of the front group. Van Stayen (TSV), Feunard (SOJ) and Nys (CRE) are their names.

117km to go

But to no avail. All 15 riders are caught, which means we can start all over again.

108km to go

Hey look, 5 new guys at the front! Well, new? They were all member of the first break. Who? Nys, Hagg, Louder (UHC), Andriato (VIN) and Veuchelen (VCD). In the background, a couple of riders are trying to bridge the gap.

101km to go

Race-update: The break has increased to 8 members. Delage (FDJ), Ignatiev (KAT) and Delpech (BSE) joined the break. About a minute behind them, 4 more riders are trying to bridge the gap. 1 minute further behind them is the peleton, who is not chasing anymore.

95km to go

And the 4 joined the others to form today's break. De Vreese, Wallays (both TSV), Van Winden (BEL) and Mederel (SOJ) are the lucky ones.

83km to go

The gap has grown to 4 minutes now and still increasing. Cofidis, Europcar and Sky are leading the peleton, who is riding through a little French town.

End of part 1

Part 2

80km to go

AG2R has no riders in the break. Montaguti is the one who's attacking here for them, but why?

76km to go

Dyachenko (AST) also attacks!

65km to go

It's time to drink something! Meanwhile, Montaguti has joined the break to make it 13. Dyachenko is only 1 minute behind the break. The peleton keeps a constant distant, around 4 minutes.

58km to go

The Kazach has joined the break. The peleton has reached a big hill, which means attacking time! Boom (BEL), Gatto (VIN), Jones (SOJ) and Vachon (BSE) are trying to get rid of the peleton.

51km to go

No, this is not the break. These are some riders who can't follow the peleton's pace. Big names here are the sprinters Guardini (AST) and Boeckmans (VCD).

43km to go

Drama at the downhill. Vuillermoz (SOJ) crashes. Luckily, he took no-one down with him and he can continue the race. The 14 are still around 4 minutes ahead of the peleton, with the attackers somewhere between them.

32km to go

This shot shows all 3 main groups at once. The break is around 1 minute ahead of the 4, who are about 1 and a half minute ahead of the peleton. Will they get caught before...

29km to go

And I haven't even finished my sentence, when some more riders attacks! This time, it are Chernetskiy (KAT), Lagutin (VCD), Voeckler (EUC), Navarro (COF) and Cervero (FDJ).

22km to go

And then... some more attacks. This time Brouwer (BEL) is involved. He has already won the GC in Gabon, and he's trying to win here also.

19km to go

Here we have a shot of the 14 leaders and the 4 behind them. For the rest, well, all we know are the gaps.
E1 - 1:00 E2 (Boom, Gatto, Jones, Vachon) - 2:00 E3 (Voeckler) - 2:30 E4 (Navarro, Chernetskiy, Lagutin) - 2:45 E5 (Brouwer, Cervero, Sithembele (SKY), Hivert (SOJ)) - 3:15 E6 (Fedrigo, Vichot (both FDJ), Schroder (EUC), Euser (UHC), Bazayev (AST)) - 3:45 peleton.

End of part 2