BENOIT COSNEFROY: «I tried.»
«Facing Julian and Mathieu, I didn't have many options. I tried to sprint first to get ahead, but I knew it would be difficult for me. I gave it a shot. It was important for me that all three of us finish together if I wanted to get on the podium. If the group behind us had caught up, it would have been more complicated. And I'd rather be on the podium than finish fifth. « [/su_quote]
THE FIGURE
27
On his return to competition, Romain Bardet finished 27th, 32 seconds behind the winner. He will compete in Paris-Tours on Sunday, as will Benoît Cosnefroy.
NEWS
Paret-Peintre 22nd overall in the Giro
After finishing the fifth stage of the Giro in 26th place, Aurélien Paret-Peintre moved up to 22nd place in the overall standings: «Larry (who finished 25th) and I were 500 metres short of making the breakaway with the leaders on the final climb. We were in contention all day with quite a lot of elevation gain in the end (4,400 metres), but the climbs were fast. I'm satisfied, I've moved up a few places in the overall standings and I'm going to keep hanging on.«
