ImagoIn the first truly hilly stage of the four-day race in France, the Japanese rider finished 21 seconds behind Roy, who completed a solo win on the 173.9km course in four hours, three minutes and 21 seconds.
Roy was second behind Arashiro on the overall podium, with Anthony Geslin third on the day and Fabien Schmidt completing the overall podium.
Prior to the final stage the lead had been swapped between sprinters such as Jure Kocjan and Evaldas Siskevicius, both of whom finished well off the pace in a ride suited to the climbers.
It is the 27-year-old Arashiro’s first win in Europe, although he has several Asian titles to his name and finished third in the 2006 and 2008 editions of this tour.
