Giant Shimano's Jonas Ahlstrand won stage 2A of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Pays de la Loire this morning.
The riders faced an 88km stage from COMPA-Ancenis to Angers which saw Hurel, Quintero and Sella get away with less than five kilometres gone.
They were never allowed to get more than a minute clear and with thirty kilometres to go, Quintero dropped back into the peloton and Hurrel and Sella ploughed on, only to be caught by the BMC led peloton with six kilometres remaining.
The stage came down to a sprint and it was Swedish rider Jonas Ahlstrand who won in 1.59.40 ahead of Juan Lobato of Movistar and race leader Nacer Bouhani of FDJ who keeps his four second lead going into the afternoon's 8km time trial in Angers.
"At last! That felt good," said Johan Ahlstrand to the Giant Shimano Press Office. The finish was really fast today, with a downhill run-in. The team did a good job in getting me to the front with three kilometres to go and from there I followed the FDJ train.
"It was a technical finish and they had the numbers so I followed them and coming out of the last roundabout I was in about sixth position. We were at over 60kmh and I knew that if I came from behind with speed they wouldn't be able to come past me.
"I jumped just inside 300m to go and gave it everything to the line. I was confident that I was feeling good after yesterday's stage already and we knew this was a good opportunity. The team were great and it feels so good to finally get the win.
"I had a good winter and worked a lot with the trainers on my strength and also on being fresh for the sprint at the end of a race. Winning is a nice reward for the hard work we have put in and I thank the team for their confidence and helping me to get here."
Source: DSG
