Tour du Limousin (final stage)
Aggregate places reward Colbrelli (BAR) at Tour du Limousin overall after brave effort from Spaniard, whole Movistar Team in grueling final stage
Jesús Herrada and Movistar Team were left empty-handed by the shortest of margins at the end of the 48th Tour du Limousin, whose overall victory went to Italian Sonny Colbrelli (BAR) after aggregate positions broke the tie between the two riders following four demanding stages.
The 164.7km final ride from Aixe-sur-Vienne to Limoges was covered on full stream right from the start, when the Mota del Cuervo-born rider had to protect his seven-second advantage as the Italian won the first intermediate sprint in front of him. A four-man breakaway -with Combaud (ARM), just 14" away on the standings- avoided any other fight in the remaning two sprints and left to the bunch's choice, led early by José Luis Laguía's squad before Bardiani took the reins as Combaud was caught, to fight for the stage.
Lammertink (ROO) won the bunch sprint while Colbrelli, who had already got to six seconds' distance in the beginning of the day, finished in 2nd place and tied the competition. The former Spanish champion, with a total 64 points, couldn't compete with Colbrelli's four top-ten finishes (22 pt) in as many days, meaning that the Movistar Team, which worked efficiently for the entire race, could only take the stage win and overall podium.