Borut Bozic gave Vacansoleil the first victory of 2010 when he won the bunch sprint of the first stage in the Etoile de Bessèges. Bozic won after 146 kilometers ahead of Nico Eeckhout, according to wielerupdate.nl. Arnaud Molmy was third.
Bozic took over the race lead. One of his fiercest competitors for the sprints, Thor Hushovd, was unable to start the race due to sickness.
The race in Southern France started with a break by Floris Goesinnen, who rides for Skil-Shimano. The team was happy to make sports headlines again, after its Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu was finally released from his contract so he could join RadioShack.
Goesinnen went away with AG2R’s Julien Loubet. The duo gained almost ten minutes on the slow-moving peloton. With 20 kilometers to go, Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen) bridged to the front. But the sprinter’s teams picked up the speed with the finish line approaching and the trio was caught in time for the sprint to play out in Vacansoleil’s favor.
The race ends on Sunday. The stages are as follows:
Feb 3, stage 1: Aigues-Mortes – Le Grau-du-Roi, 146 km
Feb 4, stage 2: Nîmes – Saint-Ambroix, 151 km
Feb 5, stage 3: Pont-Saint-Esprit – Bagnols-sur-Cèze, 148 km
Feb 6, stage 4: Alès – Alès, 140 km
Feb 7, stage 5: Gagnières – Bessèges, 145 km