Thomas Voeckler took the overall lead in the Circuit de Sarthe after Wednesday's double stage.

STAGE 2B:

American Christian Vandevelde (Slipstream) won the 9km time trial around the streets of Angers.

He clocked exactly ten minutes, ten seconds better than both Benoît Vaugrenard (FdJeux) and Stef Clement (Bouygues Télécom ).

But former French champion Voeckler, also of Bouygues, did enough to dispossess Anthony Ravard (Agritubel) of the yellow jersey.

Voeckler heads the general classification by just one second from Vandevelde.

STAGE 2A:

Samuel Dumoulin won the morning stage in the Circuit de Sarthe, a 100km trek from Varades to Angers.

The Frenchman from the Cofidis team resisted the efforts of the main bunch in the last kilometers and finished just ahead of his fellow escapee, his compatriot Christophe Diguet (Auber 93).

Argentine Ariel Maximiano Richeze led the main bunch over the line in third.

Anthony Ravard finished safely in the pack and the Agritubel rider preserves his overall lead after winning stage one.

STAGE ONE:

Frenchman Anthony Ravard won the opening stage of the Circuit de Sarthe in the Loire Valley beating out compatriot Thomas Voeckler in a sprint.

Italian Angelo Furlan rounded out the podium after 182.4-km of riding from Aizenay to Ligné.

Top French sprinter Jimmy Casper finished fourth behind his Agritubel team-mate and in front of Argentine Maximiliano Richeze.

Ravard lead the general classification heading into Wednesday's second stage which is broken up into two parts, a 99.8-km trip from Varades to Angers and a 9-km individual time trial in Angers.

Eurosport