Tour du Limousin (st. 1)
Big push by whole Movistar Team comes 17" short in Oradour-sur-Glane as Rosskopf (BMC) takes first lead via long break; Ventoso 24th
They left all they had on the road. The Movistar Team directed by José Luis Jaimerena tried to make things as hard as possible and seek for a stage win on the opening day of the Tour du Limousin, a 165km trek between Limoges and Oradour-sur-Glane with 2,800 meters of elevation gain and high temperatures, which contributed -together with the Blues’ hard work- to reduce the front group to about 80 riders.
The hard work by Carapaz, Arcas, Sütterlin, Pedrero, Soler and Herrada, trying to bring Fran Ventoso back into the lead after a 13-man group formed up following a demading first hour of racing, came just 17″ short to succeed. A six-man lead of survivors, with Rosskopf (BMC) as stage victor, outsprinted a peloton whose deficit could be crucial, in a race with no TTs where lumpy roads make hard to create real gaps.
The 26-second margin created by added bonus seconds will be the gap both Fran and Giovanni Visconti will have to make up in the remaining three days, starting with Wednesday’s 173km stage two, finishing uphill in Auzances.
Picture ©: France Bleu Limousin / Le Populaire Sports