David and the goliath of Mount Faron, David wins.
One of our favorite riders David Moncoutie (Cofidis) won the first big mountain climb of the year on Mount Faron. In the painful but exhilarating process, he also won the Tour Méditerranéen.
It’s the third time he’s been first up Faron (2003 & 2009) and this time he used experience to time his attack to perfection. In the final two kilometers he jumped out of a ten-man chase group, reeled in Jean-Christophe Péraud (AG2R) and crossed the line solo, arms out wide, smiling like a king.
Yellow jersey Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) suffered like a dog, maybe several dogs, losing two minutes on the 9.9% grades. He’s had his fun in this tour but dropped all the way to 25th. Not near as far as teammate Riccardo Ricco fell but that’s another story.
The self-described “weekend cyclist” is off to a flying start and will also be returning to the Tour de France this year after many absences. He showed his form on the 5.5 kilometer climb above Toulon and gave non-ProTeam Cofidis a terrific win. Moncoutie was once quoted saying “What I like is to be on my bike and to ride. That’s when I’m happy.”
Today, Sunday, February 13th, he’s very happy.
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