Romain Feillu won the GP de Fourmies in France today, ahead of Davide Appollonio and Kenny Dehaes. Feillu was beaten in yesterday's sprint in Paris-Brussels, but made no mistake today to take the win, his third of the season. It was a lot today closer today, with Appollonio coming within centimeters of beating Feillu.
It was Feillu's second win in the race, having already prevailed last year. The winner of the 2005 edition, Australian Robbie McEwen, sprinted to sixth place today.
The race conistsed of a 41km loop, to be done five times. It rained at the start, but the roads became dry later on. The first break of the day consisted of 17 riders, followed by an attempt of five.
AG2R put the hammer down to reel the break in just as they entered the final 41km-loop. A countermove immediately formed, but the sprinters' teams were too strong and brought it all back for a bunch gallop.
Marcello Albasini, sports director for the Cervélo TestTeam, had some regrets after the race. "Davide was really close and after seeing the photo finish we saw that he just missed the victory by 2 centimeters."
2010 GP de Fourmies results:
1. Feillu Romain (VAC) in 4h39'05"
2. Appollonio Davide (CTT)
3. Dehaes Kenny (OLO)
4. Blythe Adam (OLO)
5. Kristoff Alexander (BMC)
6. McEwen Robbie (KAT)
7. Kostyuk Denys (ISD)
8. Trussov Nikolai (KAT)
9. Lagutin Sergey (VAC)
10. Jegou Lilian (BSC)