Julien Antomarchi
Laszlo Bodrogi
Alex Bowden
Fabio Calabria
Daniele Callegarin
Remy Cusin
Julien El Fares
Filippo Fortin

Five riders that broke away after just five kilometres and at one stage held a lead of over eight minutes are still ahead on the road but with a lead now below six minutes, they are Faucon/Auber 93, M.Velits/Omega Pharma, Damuseau/Argos Shimano, Ricci Bitti/Farnese Vini and Kelderman/Rabobank

The group is still setting a decent pace despite the fact that the peleton has now decided to wake up

As expected its the French teams that are doing the lions share of the work at the front of the peleton with sixty percent of it being done by FDJ BigMat

The lead has come down to 2m 46s

Faucon/Auber 93 loses the wheel in front of him as the break reaches the twenty kilometre to go banner. The peleton are now only a minute behind

With the break finally surrendering to the fast moving pack, it wasn't long until the next attack was made and it came from Rollin/FDJ-BigMat with Millar/Garmin Sharp trying desperately to get on to his wheel

Burghardt/BMC is the latest to try his luck at an attack

And the mad dash for the line has started in earnest with Garmin Sharp on the front

But Pim Ligthart of Vacansoleil proves the fastest today and takes a Brilliant win here in Vimoutiers

Team Europcar

Another race that both me and the team would much rather forget, lets move on and quickly

Julien Antomarchi
Alessandro Bazzana
Rubens Bertogliati
Laszlo Bodrogi
Remy Cusin
Julien El Fares
Jure Kocjan
George Preidler

Race radio is saying the advantage for these six riders is 6m 20s, the riders are Malle/Veranda Rideau, Samoilau/Movistar, Stortini/Lampre ISD, Le Bon/Bretagne Schuller and Kelderman/Rabobank

The lead has group has lost just under a minute in the last ten kilometres

The lead has come down again to 3m 47s

Vaitkus/Orica GreenEdge and Pate/Sky Procycling decide to break clear of the peleton and try to go after the breakaways

Pate has the leaders in his sights but it may be all in vain as the main bunch is now breathing down his neck

Less than thirty seconds remains as the peleton is now in full flow behind them

And with the rain that is falling it was inevitable that there would be a crash and we have had just that with a number of riders hitting the road hard

And the sprint is off and its Saur Sojasun at the front

But its Michel Kreder of Garmin Sharp who has the fastest finish today and he claims the victory here in France

Saur - Sojasun

Well the plan today was to get Jure Kocjan as close to the win as possible but a combination of the weather and tiredness mean't that the plan went out of the window.
Ah well tomorrow is another day

Julien Antomarchi
Alessandro Bazzana
Laszlo Bodrogi
Daniele Callegarin
Daniele Colli
Remy Cusin
Julien El Fares
Filippo Fortin

Up to now this season, when the team has visited France there has baan nothing to write home about at all, so i want them to go out there and give it a good shot this time round

These four riders broke clear after ten kilometres and have got themselves a lead of over six minutes, they are Malacarne/Bretagne Schuller, Baestaens/Landbouwkrediet, Perget/AG2R La Mondiale and Damuseau/Argos Shimano

The riders are setting a nice steady tempo as they cover kilometre after kilometres

Saur Sojasun and Radioshack Nissan are controlling the peleton to make sure the advantage doesn't go too far out

With the lead decreasing rapidly the emphasis of the break seems to have gone and the riders don't seem to be committed as they were before

Three riders are trying to make it across the gap to the leaders, but are finding the going a little bit harder than they expected

FDJ-BigMat are now at the head of the peleton and they have the break in its sights once again

Julien El Fares of Team Type 1 has managed to open up a small advantage as he passes under the five kilometre to go banner

He has over a minute's lead on the main pack so all he has to do is stay upright and this race is in the bag

What a Great victory for the Frenchman on home soil, he will certainly celebrate tonight with his team mates

A totally unexpected victory today, but we will take anything at the moment. Julien was sent to the front at about ten kilometres to go to drive our train forward but his turn of pace was just epic so we told him to go for it and boy did he deliver. Drinks at the dinner table tonight are on me