Yesterday Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r) became the first rider in the history to take back-to-back wins in the season-long Coupe de France race series when his 2nd place in the Tour de Vendee was enough to elevate him from 3rd to 1st in the overall standings. The Frenchman is proud to have proved consistency by once again winning the major French race series.

Samuel Dumoulin is known as a hugely versatile and consistent rider and it is no wonder that the Frenchman used those talents to win the Coupe de France race series last year. Yesterday he repeated the feat when he became the first rider ever to take back-to-back wins in the prestigious competition.

The Coupe de France consists of several of the biggest French one-day races that are combined into a race series. Points towards individual and teams classifications are awarded based on results in the races that have very different natures. Hence, it requires great versatility to come out on top.

Being a fast sprinter and strong on shorter hills, Dumoulin has that kind of allround talents but ahead of yesterday's final race, Tour de Vendee, the Ag2r rider only found himself in 3rd in the standing behind Bryan Coquard and Anthony Geslin. While Dumoulin is fast, he is no pure sprinter and it seemed to be an almost insurmountable task to dispose Coquard in a race that is usually won by a sprinter.

However, Dumoulin refused to give up and he used his team to set up a bunch kick on the ascending finishing straight. The uphill sprint suited the Ag2r leader perfectly and he made a great performance to finish 2nd behind Bouhanni. Coquard was delivered perfectly by his team but could only manage 6th and so Dumoulin defended his crown as Coupe de France champion.

"I was not able to obtain a better result today so there was no reason to be disappointed with this 2nd place," he said. "Above all, I was very pleased by winning the overall classification of the Coupe de France, especially because there has been a lot of suspense throughout the season. To win this trophy, you have to obtain good results in every race and you have to work hard towards this goal."

"Mentally, I was heavily involved in the competition and I must say that the season now feels long, fatigue makes itself felt! Today, the whole team did its best to help me and it’s always nice to see my own work and the collective work being rewarded.”

Despite Dumoulin's fatigue, he plans to continue his racing to the very end of the season by lining up in Thursday's Paris-Bourges and Sunday's big classic, Paris-Tours.