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French rider Anthony Charteau of Bouygues-Telecom won the 2010 Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon.

Charteau's aggregate time of 17 hours, 48 minutes and 52 seconds put him 11 seconds clear of second-placed Ian MacLeod of MTB Cycling Team, with AG2R's Julien Loubet taking third place.

There was consolation for both MacLeod and Loubet, however, as they won the jerseys for best climber and best young rider respectively.

Michael Reihs of Team Designa-Kokken had earlier won the 130km sixth and final stage of the race from Owendo to Libreville after beating Guillaume Blot (Cofidis), Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R) and Mohammed Erragragui of Morocco in a sprint to the line.

STAGE FIVE

Yohann Gene denied a three-man African breakaway to win the fifth stage of the of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon just ahead of Bouygues-Telecom team-mate Giovanni Bernaudeu.

Early in the 147.5km stage it looked as if one of the African riders would win, with Morocco's Ismael Ayoune, Burkina Faso's Hamidou Yamiego and Gabon's Ephrem Ekobena building up an eight minute 20 second lead on the peloton during what was the longest leg of the race.

But the trio were caught up with 10km left to ride, and it was Gene who won the final sprint for the line to finish in a time of 3:48.59.

Gene's team-mate Anthony Charteau still leads the general classification ahead of MTN's Ian MacLeod going into Sunday's final stage in Libreville, but a number of riders will be close enough to challenge for victory.

STAGE FOUR

Anthony Charteau took stage four of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo with an exciting finish in Gabon.

The BBox Bouygues Telecom rider finished just ahead of South African Ian Mac Leod (MTN) and fellow Frenchman Julien Loubet, who won stage two earlier in the week.

The stage was raced over 133km between Ndjole and Lambarene.

It was a doubly-sweet win for Charteau, who retained the lead in the overall standings, still 11 seconds ahead of McLeod.

Loubet, of AG2R, lies third, 19 seconds off the lead.

STAGE THREE

AG2R-La Mondiale's Nicolas Rousseau took the third stage of the La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon.

Rousseau was among a small group that broke away 30km from the finish and he won the sprint ahead of fellow Frenchman Amael Moinard (Cofidis) and MTN's South African rider Ian MacLeod.

Bbox-Bouygues Telecom's Anthony Charteau was fourth and took the overall race lead from Rousseau's team-mate Julien Loubet who won stage two of the six-stage event, which features ten national squads plus five professional teams.

It was a second professional victory for the 26-year-old track specialist who also won a stage at the Route du Sud in 2009.

Rousseau said: "William Bonnafond launched the sprint so it was a collective victory. It is a pleasure to be here because we have a very solid group and are reaping the fruits of our labour, it's nice."

STAGE TWO

AG2R La Mondiale's Julien Loubet had double cause for celebration after winning the second stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and taking the yellow jersey.

Loubet edged out Cofidis rider David Moncoutie after the 125km ride from Kabala to Franceville which included a gruelling 4km ascent.

A third Frenchman, Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis, loses the overall lead after finishing fourth on the stage.

Anthony Charteau of BBox Bouygues Telecom - also from France - was third.

STAGE ONE

Cofidis rider Samuel Dumoulin took the honours in the first stage of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon.

The Frenchman took little time to acclimatise to racing on African soil and finished ahead of a grouped peloton at the end of the 81 kilometre ride from Bongoville and Akieni to claim the yellow jersey.

Throughout the day the AG2R La Mondiale and Cofidis teams gauged the prowess of their African counterparts, with Cameroonian pair Sando Simon and Damien Tekou lead the way from the off.

Kenyans Chelanga Maiyo Ismail and Paul Ngasike Agori, who ended the stage as the best climber, took up the challenge but could not hold off Dumoulin.

Wednesday's second stage sees the riders travel from Kabala to Franceville.

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