PORTO-VECCHIO, France — Ben King retained the overall lead at the Criterium International after Fabio Felline and Bob Jungels secured a 1-2 finish for the Trek Factory Racing team in a short time trial on Saturday.
King won the 92.5-kilometre (57.5-kilometre) opening stage in the morning around Porto-Vecchio, crossing the finish line five seconds ahead of breakaway rival Clement Saint-Martin.
After crashing last weekend in the Milan-San Remo, King was not scheduled to ride in Corsica, and was added to his team’s line-up only at the last minute as a replacement for a sick teammate.
"It’s a great feeling to win here," King said. "We’ve had some back luck, but we haven’t lost our fighting spirit. So, I desperately wanted to get the win for my teammates. That was my motivation. I’m happy I was able to deliver."
The American rider then finished 19th on the seven-kilometre stage against the clock in the afternoon, 21 seconds behind Felline.
"This afternoon I did not expect to win, not with Bob (Jungels) and all the other time trial specialists," Felline said after posting his first victory since 2013.
King holds a 24-second lead over Saint-Martin heading into Sunday’s final stage between Porto-Vecchio and the Col de l’Ospedale.