Visconti flies low
22 August 2013

Tour du Limousin (st. 3)

Italian from Movistar Team comes to the fore at hardest stage in Limousin, gets chased down with just 5km to go. Jesús Herrada takes 9th into short-field sprints

Few minutes after his contract renewal with Movistar Team was announced, Giovanni Visconti took yet another test in his interesting preparations for September’s road race Worlds in Tuscany. The Italian was the biggest protagonist of the Queen stage in the Tour du Limousin, with two passages of the steep Côte des Costes (Cat-2) in the circuit closing the 183km between Ussac and Chamboulive. The move from the Sicilian started into the first climb, more than 50k from the finish, when he overtook the day’s original break and later took command of the eight-man attempt, reaching more than a minute’s advantage over the main field.

With his gap diminished to only twenty seconds, the telephone squad’s leader jumped again into the second passage, starting a solo action that would end with just 5k from the finish, reached by a small group of about 30 riders with four more Blues: Madrazo, Plaza, Karpets and Jesús Herrada, who tried to contest the sprint but could only take 9th behind winner Mathieu Ladaganous (FDJ). Martin Elmiger (IAM) staysi in the lead as the French event tackles its final act on Friday, over 179km and another technical, final circuit in the region’s capital Limoges.