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Quintana seals second Route du Sud title

Toulouse - Tour de France contender Nairo Quintana won the Route du Sud on Sunday for the second time following the 155km fifth and final stage.

French sprinter Arnaud Demare won a sprint finish to claim stage honours ahead of compatriots Yohann Gene and Stephane Poulhies following eight laps of a circuit around the Clermont-Pouyguilles commune.

Movistar's Quintana, 26, had already won this race in 2012 and was second to Spain's Alberto Contador last year.

It is his only Tour de France build-up race after the Colombian opted to skip the traditional week-long stage races of the Criterium du Dauphine and Tour of Switzerland.

Quintana took control of the race by winning the hilly time-trial on Friday.

He won by 36 seconds to Spanish Movistar team-mate Marc Soler, who won Saturday's fourth stage, with Frenchman Nicolas Edet third at 1:06.

Briton Hugh Carthy had started the day in third place overall but crashed close to the end of the final stage and fell down to 22nd overall.

Quintana had started as overwhelming favourite for a race that rarely attracts the biggest names, although two-time Tour de France champion Contador won last year.

Results from the 154.8km fifth and final stage of the Route du Sud around Clermont-Pouyguilles on Sunday:

1. Arnaud Démare (FRA/Movistar) 3hr 42min 02sec, 2. Yohann Gene (FRA) same time, 3. Stéphane Poulhies (FRA) s.t., 4. Manuel Belletti (ITA) s.t., 5. Romain Hardy (FRA) s.t., 6. Yannick Martinez (FRA) s.t., 7. Jose Joaquin Gil Rojas (ESP) s.t., 8. Igor Boev (RUS) s.t., 9. Alexander Kamp (DEN) s.t., 10. Lilian Calmejane (FRA) s.t.

Overall standings

1. Nairo Quintana Rojas (COL/Movistar) 16hr 34min 57sec, 2. Marc Soler (ESP) at 36sec, 3. Nicolas Edet (FRA) 1:06, 4. Thomas Voeckler (FRA) 1:15, 5. Sergio Pardilla Bellon (ESP) 1:55, 6. Ricardo Vilela (POR) 2:01, 7. Mikel Bizkarra (ESP) 2:12, 8. Stéphane Rossetto (FRA) 2:20, 9. Luis Angel Mate Mardones (ESP) 2:36, 10. Artem Nych (RUS) 2:38

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