Bryan Coquard opened his 2022 campaign with his new team, Cofidis, with a long-awaited victory in the second stage of the Etoile de Besseges on Thursday.

The Frenchman had not been on the top step of the podium since the first stage of Route d'Occitanie in August 2020, until he outpaced former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in the uphill finish of Luzon.

After the stage, the 29-year-old said he responded to criticism from Jérôme Pinault, former manager of B&B Hotels-KTM.

"There were a few things in the newspaper that I didn't like at all," Coquard told L'Equipe (open in new tab). 'But I'm not going to argue.'

Even taking into account the long period without a win, Coquard won 12 of his 30 victories in his four years at B&B. But those struggles are now history in his career, he said, and his victory at Etoile de Besseges will help him start his career at Cofidis with a "good dynamic." [I am a humble man. I am a humble person. I work a lot, and even if things haven't worked out, I've worked hard. But for a sprinter, not winning for more than a year is an eternity, and obviously I was thinking about that and dreading it. This win is a reward. With this new jersey, we will be able to start a good dynamic.

"It was a very difficult finish. I thought [Pedersen] would never sit down again. It was violent. It was more about strength than pure speed. With 150 to go, I had to use all my strength.

Coquard is now ninth overall and heads into the last three stages, which include a sprinters' day, a mountain finish, and a time trial. His teammate Benjamin Thomas is in fourth place, 27 seconds behind race leader Pedersen, 20 seconds behind.

"I told [my teammate] to leave him to me and not to leave me to him," Kocar said.

He will get his next chance to add to his total of 46 wins at Friday's stage in Bessege.

After Etoile de Besseges, Coquard will head to Volta Ao Algarve, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Paris-Nice.