Pierrick Fedrigo proved that he still knows how to win races when he took his first victory for the Bretagne team in the big French one-day race Cholet-Pays de Loire which is part of the Coupe de France race series. The Frenchman attacked out of a 40-rider lead group and managed to hold off four chasers by 21 seconds, with Jon Insausti (Murias Taldea) and Baptiste Planckaert (Roubaix) completing the podium.

Pierrick Fedrigo was once a prolific winner with no less than four Tour de France stage wins on his palmares but during the last few seasons, he seems to have lost the edge and his status as one of the leading French riders. Going into the 2015 season, he hadn’t won a race since the Paris-Camembert in April 2013.

In an attempt to find back to his best, Fedrigo signed a contract with the Bretagne team and apparently that move has paid off. Today the Frenchman finally broke his drought when he came out on top in Cholet-Pays de Loire, the third round of the Coupe de France race series.

Like in yesterday’s Classique Loire Atlantique, the windy conditions and rolling terrain made it a hard and selective race and like yesterday it was a big group that emerged after a fast start of the race. When 21 riders got clear, Fedrigo had initially missed out but together with 18 other riders, he bridged the gap to make it a 40-rider lead group.

Cofidis, Androni and Caja Rural led the chase but at the halfway point, it became clear that the peloton would not get back in contention. This mean that the attacking could start in the lead group and it was Cedric Pineau (FDJ), Timothy Dupont (Roubaix) and Julien Duval (Armee) who first got clear.

The trio managed to build an advantage of a minute before Fedrigo combined forces with his former teammate Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) to bridge the gap on one of the climbs with 40km to go. They gave new life to the break and quickly distanced Duval and Dupont before they started the 29km finishing circuit.

With the chasers getting closer, Fedrigo launched an attack with 20km to go and he quickly distanced Pineau and Voeckler who were both brought back. The Bretagne rider now went into time trial mode while a chase group with Jon Insausti, Baptiste Planckaert,  Antoine Demoitie (Wallonie) and Ignatas Konovalovas (Marseille) formed behind him.

For a long time, Fedrigo managed to maintain an advantage of 30 seconds but in the finale he started to lose ground. With 2km to go, he was just 18 seconds ahead and it seemed that he could miss out on the win.

However, he dug deep one final time and when he reached the finish, he was still the lone leader, taking the first win in Bretagne colours. 21 seconds later, Insausti beat Planckaert in the sprint for second.

"We were 40 in front," Fedrigo told Directvelo. "It's never easy because there are perhaps ten riders who work in such groups. Howeverm we knew that this escape was likely to stay away. 

"I spoke with Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) to know what he intended to do in the finale. We always prefer if a French rider wins. I  got along well with Thomas to return on three attackers. We had to blow the race apart, making the attacks. He was an ally. Thomas is a rider who is like me, he does not calculate his efforts. 

"Today, I perhaps had better legs than my opponents. I managed to exploit it. I thought I was crazy to attack as far from the finish. I found the joys of the podium and success. The victory was missing. I won here ten years ago. 

"I am someone who likes to raise my arms. In the last two years, I have not had many opportunities to do so. I had lost the desire to go for the win. It quickly returned. Today I have taken time to savor the win. It feels good to win.

"Thomas Voeckler congratulated me at the finish. We raced together, I appreciate him. We have the same approach. We want to see a different race than the big events in which it is so controlled. A race like Cholet is a different event than a WorldTour race, but then at least it looks like a bike race.

"I think it did me good to change teams this winter. This team suits me well. The staff likes the way I ride. I love the way the team works. 

"I am reaching  the end of my career, after all I am 37 years old. There are tougher times when there are health problems. I have not set my date to stop my career. I can still fight, I'm not homeless. I still have pleasure when I train. 

"I realize that I must be increasingly well placed in the race and fight for position and that is more difficult for me. I prefer races of attrition like Cholet, we were only 40 in the group and it suited me well."