Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux) outsprinted Romain Hardy (Bretagne - Schuller) and Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme Marseille) to win Paris-Camembert. After several good placings in the past, it is a dream come true for Casar, who trained on these roads when he was a kid.
Casar desperately wanted to win this race, being part of a trio that escaped after the break of the day and several other attempts had been squashed. The three were caught by a small group to form the winning 11-man selection.
Casar made another attempt, but was caught by four riders three kilometers from the line. His teammate Pierrick Fédrigo was in the move as well and the two Française des Jeux made no mistake. Fédrigo kept the pace high, as the chasers were only a few seconds behind Casar finished off the work.
Française des Jeux is clearly having a good week, with five wins in one week. Anthony Roux took stage four of the Circuit de la Sarthe - Pays de la Loire, which also gave him the overall title. Gianni Meersman did a similar double when winning stage two of the Circuit des Ardennes, then defending his leader's jersey to the finish.
Casar has spent his entire with the French Lottery team, starting in 1999 as a stagiaire. He has won three stages at the Tour de France. In 2002 he finished second in Paris-Nice behind Alexandre Vinokourov.
In Paris-Camembert, Casar finished third in 2002 and 2005 as well as fourth in 2003 and 2004.