Frenchman also takes overall victory on mountain above Toulon
Climber David Moncoutié used his uphill skills to storm away from Jean-Christophe Péraud and Wout Poels on the Mont Faron in the final stage of the Tour Méditerranéen. His stage five win also gave him the overall, with Péraud in second and Poels in third.
Poels was the first one to attack, but the French duo of Moncoutié and Péraud was able to catch the 23-year-old before the top.
“It is prestigious to win here,” Moncoutie said, according to L’Equipe. “We know well that it only takes 15 minutes to ride Mont Faron. It is not often that I get a chance to win, so I’m happy…especially because I have not had the lead during the week.
He also took the final leg of the race in 2009, six years after winning his first stage.
Tour of the Mediterranean (2.1), February 9 – 13:
February 13, Stage 5: Biot – Toulon, Mont-Faron:
1, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 165 kilometres in 4 hours 23 mins 40 secs
2, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) at 7 secs
3, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 18 secs
4, Andrew Talansky (Team Garmin-Cervélo) same time
5, Morris Possoni (Sky Procycling) at 23 secs
6, David Lopez Garcia (Movistar Team) at 27 secs
7, Stephen Cummings (Sky Procycling) at 30 secs
8, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar)
9, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur – Sojasun) both same time
10, Julien El Fares (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) at 34 secs
Final general classification:
1, David Moncoutie (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) 16 hours 48 mins 36 secs
2, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) at 11 secs
3, Wout Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team) at 24 secs
4, Andrew Talansky (Team Garmin-Cervelo) at 28 secs
5, Morris Possoni (Sky Procycling) at 33 secs
6, Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) at 35 secs
7, David Lopez Garcia (Movistar Team) at 37 secs
8, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur – Sojasun) at 40 secs
9, Stephen Cummings (Sky Procycling)
10, Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) both same time