Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) wins La Polynormande

A stone's throw from the mythical Mont-St-Michel, 112 riders line up for the 43rd edition of La Polynormande, an event founded by former Tour de France speaker Daniel Mangeas. On a course of 168.9 kilometers including 10 laps of the circuit, Arnaud de Lie looks like a man to beat: a great battle promises to be David against Goliath.

After several skirmishes including a breakaway that took the field, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) did not coo in the Côte de la Pigeonnière and launched an attack allowing two riders to take a few hundred meters ahead of the peloton. Well led by his Belgian formation, Arnaud De Lie tumbles with impressive speed, taking down all his opponents from his wheel and depositing the two fugitives 50 meters from the line.

For the second time this season, "Le Taureau de Lescheret" won a round of the Coupe de France, after its success in the Grand Prix du Morbihan. This good result gives him the lead in the general classification of the circuit.

Note the good group performance of the riders wearing Ekoï products with 7th place for Hofstetter (Arkéa-Samsic), 8th place for Delettre (Cofidis) and 10th place for Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech).

Photo credit: Cassandra Donne