After the man first named the winner of the Saturday stage of the Etoile de Bessèges was relegated, Arnoud Molmy (Roubaix - Lille Metropole) became the victor. Yesterday's stage winner, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), was the first man across the line in Alès, France, and was declared the initial winner, but he was later relegated as officials sorted through the events of a chaotic finale.
The race jury upheld a protest from Team Roubaix-Lille Métropole that Dumoulin, who crossed the line 20 metres clear of Molmy, had cut short his approach to the final straight. It decided that the Frenchman Dumoulin's significant advantage in the finale had been ill gotten through deviation from the race course going into the final straight and awarded victory to Molmy instead.
"The finale was quite crazy," said fourth place finisher Dominique Rollin (Cervelo Test Team) "A few guys cut short the roundabout and created chaos in the run-in to the finish with about 400 meters to go."
"With bad signaling on the last corner, most of the riders took the shortest route, which messed up the finish. I had great legs and was well placed, but with all the confusion I ended up losing spots."
Having ended Borut Bozic's (Vacansoleil) two-stage run on Friday, Dumoulin was again the first rider to edge his wheel past the finish but was denied his own double upon relegation. Had he won the stage, he would have taken over the race lead, too.
As a result of the relegation, Anthony Geslin (Française des Jeux) was promoted to second and Belgian Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post-Sean Kelly) to third for the stage.
The Etoile de Bessèges wraps up on Sunday. Molmy goes into it as overall leader.
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