Eurosport - Thu, 16 Apr 20:07:00 2009
Jimmy Casper won the Denain Grand Prix - despite picking up two punctures - to surge further ahead in the Coupe de France standings.
The Frenchman, who triumphed in the Paris-Camembert on Tuesday, now has 135 points in the general classification after edging a sprint finish in a time of 4:40:18.
Romain Feillu of Agritubel is second, well behind on only 48 points.
"Normally between 135 and 140 points allows you to win the Coupe de France, so it's in our hands now," the Besson-Sojasun rider said afterwards.
Ukrainian Yuriy Krivtsov (AG 2R) and the Frenchman Cedric Coutouly (also of Besson-Sojasun) and Tony Gallopin (Auber 93) initially pulled away from the group when Casper picked up his first puncture but he returned to the pack and, despite needing to repair his tyre a second time, was able to keep pace and win on the line.
Saxo Bank's Australian Matt Goss was second with Frenchman Denis Flahaut of Landbouwkrediet third.
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