Mikhaylo Khalilov won the penultimate stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in Fresnay sur Sarthe.

The Ukrainian, riding for Ceramica Flaminia, came out on top after an 186.5km trek from Angers.

Former French champion Thomas Voeckler gained two bonus seconds at the final intermediate sprint to stretch his overall lead to three seconds on American Christian Vandevelde (Slipstream) entering Friday's concluding stage from St Léonard des Bois to Le Mans.

Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne), Freddy Bichot (Agritubel), Maurizio Biondo (Cérmica Flaminia) and Markus Zberg (Gerolsteiner) launched an attack midway through the stage but Voeckler's Bouygues Telecom team managed to haul them back late in the stage.

Bichot was only caught at the last turn and Khalilov, recent winner of the Grand Prix de la Ville de Rennes, had too much speed for sprinters Ariel Richeze and Lilan Jegou in the dash to the line.

STAGE 2B:

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

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 after finishing 12th in the stage at 20 seconds behind the victorious American.

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