Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) left a testing early part of the season behind him when he finally won his first race of the year in today's 6th stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné. Having suffered a broken collarbone and crashed hard in his comeback race in Belgium, he had started to doubt his own abilities but today's win firmly puts that uncertainty to rest.

Last year Thomas Voeckler was one of the key protagonists during the sprint, winning the Brabantse Pijl and finishing in the top 10 in both the Amstel Gold Race and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. This year he was keen to improve on that performance but all his chances were derailed when he crashed in Amstel and broke his collarbone.

He returned to competition late last month in the Tour of Belgium but found no luck at all. During the first stage, he crashed on a cobbled section and finished on his own more than 18 minutes behind Andre Greipel who had won the stage in a bunch sprint.

Hence, it had taken Voeckler an unusually long time to take his first win of the season but today he finally found some success when he proved that he still has that formidable ability to pick the right break and finish it off in style. He instigated the successful move in today's 6th stage of the Criterium du Dauphiné by himself and emerged as the strongest of the initial 8-rider group.

Unsurprisingly, the win is a massive relief for the Frenchman.

"I think I've had my fair share of bad luck since the start of the year and I had no desire in letting this opportunity slip,"  he said. "It brings good feelings back!  I was not used to reach the month of June without the pleasure of winning. Doubt had taken place in my mind, I must admit. What reassured me since the beginning of the season was the great performances of our team. But personally, I wasn’t very successful."

He ended up as a key part of the final 4-rider group and was accompanied by Jose Herrada (Movistar) and the Astana duo of Egor Silin and Kevin Seeldraeyers. Knowing that he has a decent sprint, he was content to let it come down to a final dash to the line but one member of the break made him a little uncertain.

"I was worried by the Movistar rider," he said. "I didn’t know if he was fast or not. Otherwise, I told myself to profit from the excessive numbers of the Astana team in the breakaway. I still know how to win races.

The stage actually was a special one as the finish was located at the exact same point where Voeckler had come close in the past.

"In 2004, on this same finishing line here, I finished third as I won a sprint [of 20 riders including Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, etc., ed.] for third place behind [Michael, ed.] Rasmussen and [Ivan, ed.] Basso. I knew the final straight line," he explained.

Many have the impression that Voeckler always wins when he is part of a successful break. However, he is keen to point out that that is not always the case, reminding everybody of the fourth stage of the recent Tour of Belgium where he was defeated by Maxim Iglinskiy.

"Everyone remembers when I’ve won but I’ve also failed many times like recently at the Tour of Belgium when many people thought I’d get a stage win," he said. "Today, I really didn’t want to miss out. I hope the hard times are behind me."

Voeckler now seems to be on track for another successful Tour de France. In 2011, he wore the yellow jersey for 10 days and finished 4th overall while last year he won two mountain stages and the polka-dot jersey for best climber. However, he cannot help regretting his lost opportunities earlier in the season.

"I’m often told that my break will help me now but I’ve missed the Amstel Gold Race, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour de Romandie and the Four Days of Dunkirk for which I had a good form," he said. "A broken collarbone isn’t the end of the world. I’m sincerely happy today."

The stage win is also important in another way. The team is still searching for a sponsor to replace Europcar and until now, no solution has been found. Voeckler hopes that his and teammate David Veilleux' win earlier in the race can facilitate team manager Jean-Rene Bernadeau's work.

My thoughts are for Jean-René Bernaudeau who is doing all he can to find a sponsor. Our future isn’t secured yet," he said.

The team will try to make it three wins in just 7 days in tomorrow's queen stage where Pierre Rolland has promised to attack to make up for a crash in yesterday's stage. The stage passes the Alpe d'Huez climb, the site of Rolland's breakthrough win in the 2011 Tour, and he is eager to once again show off his strength on the famous slopes.

Starting at 12.45 you can follow the action on CyclingQuotes.com/live.