New Linda McCartney Foods Cycling Team addition Matt De Canio made a promising debut in today's exciting Tour de Vendée. The young American triallist forced his way into an early break, then spent the next 100kms in there with the likes of Jann Kirsipuu and Jens Voigt.

It was a positive start to a good Easter for the McCartneys. With places in the vegetarian team for the Giro d'Italia at a premium, motivation was high. The lack of a recognised leader (Pascal Richard out with a virus and Max Sciandri recovering from a slight back strain) meant that there was an excellent opportunity for others to impress.

Matt De Canio went with the move when only a handful of the hilly, narrow kilometres had been covered, and held his own in a group of big hitters. His fast pedalling style is easy to pick out, and it is not hard to see the work of his coach Chris Carmichael. His best known client spins the pedals with similar ease: one Lance Armstrong of Austin, TX.

The group was brought back eventually, and the McCartney team fought hard to keep their places at the front of affairs. On the very rapid finishing circuit, lined with a huge holiday crowd, Bjornar Vestol launched a trademark do or die attack. He held an advantage over the seething peloton for one lap, but was recaptured on the climb to the finish with two 7km laps remaining. Then, when the group split again on the final lap under intense pressure from the French teams, it appeared that all was lost. Not so, as Maurizio De Pasquale and David McKenzie dug deep into their reserves, and pulled off magnificent efforts to get up into the final selection who would dispute the finish.

"Macca was hanging last man in the field with a lap to go, and I told him to move up," revealed manager Chris Lillywhite. "I didn't expect him to make the front, though."

"I had cramp and all sorts, I thought I was going to die, but somehow I found myself up at the front with Maurizio," said Dave afterwards.

It didn't need a cycling genius to point out that Jann Kirsipuu would be the man to watch when the race flew back into La Roche Sur Yon at five o'clock this afternoon, as the Estonian Champion has won two of the last three editions. Even when he didn't win, in 1998, he was third. And so it came to pass that the man who fills the blue, black and white jersey to the brim took his hat-trick with his powerful sprint up the drag to Place de Napoleon. In second place was Aussie Toulouse resident Jay Sweet, coming close in a French Cup race for the second time this week.

Maurizio De Pasquale had weathered the 200kms in excellent shape, and was very active over the four finishing circuits. The finishing straight really needed to be harder for him to out jump the pure sprinters like Kirsipuu, but he still took them on, crossing the line a good 15th. Dave McKenzie was a little further back after making the same group, with Matt Stephens and Bjornar Vestol breaking the tape in the fast finishing bunch a few seconds later.