Mathew Hayman (Team Sky) fought out his first victory since the 2006 Commonwealth Games as he held off the charging peloton into the catherdral city. The popular Australian, who spends most of his time working for his teammates, was part of the race-long breakaway but managed to hold on to win as the others were caught. Just behind Hayman was his fast-finishing compatriot Baden Cooke (Saxo Bank-SunGard), with Hayman’s New Zealander Team Sky teammate Greg Henderson completing an all-Australasian podium.
"I was leading into the last 400 metres and managed a good sprint,” explained Hayman. “I’d seen that the guys behind were lining up so I just went and Baden Cooke got alongside me but couldn’t quite get over me and Greg was finishing very fast on the outside but the line came quicker.
"I was really happy with that,” he continued. “I think we got away after about 15km and I ended up kind of winning a sprint so there was a bit of disbelief afterwards!
"My last victory was the Commonwealth Games in 2006 so it’s been a while in between but it’s nice to win a race in a Team Sky jersey.”
The race set out from the town of Gien, to the south of Paris, in strong wind and heavy rain. Hayman escaped after 20km, along with Stijn Devolder, Marco Marcato and Bert-Jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM), John Degenkolb (HTC Highroad), Gustav-Erik Larsson (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Geoffroy Lequatre (RadioShack), Ludovic Turpin (Saur-Sojasun), Frédéric Guesdon (FDJ), Alexandre Geniez (Skil-Shimano), Aldo Ino Ilešič (Team Type 1-Sanofi), Cesare Benedetti (NetApp), Anthony Perez (La Pomme Marseille) and Paul Voss (Endura Racing).
The fourteen riders were never able to get more than two and half minutes clear of the peloton, and in the last fifty kilometres the group began to break up, with Hayman, Degenkolb, Lequatre, Ilešič, Marcato and Voss escaping the others
With ten kilometres to go, the six men were just thirty seconds clear of the shrinking peloton but, on the predominantly downhill approach to the finish, Hayman broke clear. The powerful Australian, who can usually be seen on the front of the peloton, setting the pace for his teammates, managed to keep the Saxo Bank-SunGard-led peloton at bay, crossing the line to take a rare victory just ahead of the sprinting Cooke.
"I knew [last week] at Franco-Belge that I was going pretty well and Steven [de Jongh, Team Sky sports director] in the car told me to make sure I was confident in my sprint and I guess that's what I did,” said Hayman.
"I’m now really looking forward to Paris-Tours on Sunday,” he continued, “it’s really the last classic for the kind of guys like me who enjoy those sort of events. It’s been a bit of a goal of mine at the end of the year after the World Championships.
"This win today puts the icing on the cake and means I’ll go in there pretty relaxed but knowing I’ve got good form."