Unlike the opening stage, the second day of racing in the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine did not go the way of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team on Wednesday, between Jonzac and Gond-Pontouvre. Cyril Barthe and his teammates couldn’t find a gap, nor make a good enough positioning to contest the final sprint. The Frenchman crossed the line in 18th place, while Lewis Bower retained the white jersey for best young rider and remains in fourth place overall.
Just like on the first day, the breakaway formed quite early on Wednesday’s stage in the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine. Four riders—three of whom came from the Parkhotel Valkenburg team—broke clear shortly after the start in Jonzac, while the peloton easily took control of the chase. “We decided not to go in the break today because our goal was to race hard in the final,” explained Philippe Mauduit. “There were three climbs where the race could have played out. The other scenario was a bunch sprint”. After quite an uneventful day, the peloton reached the final three climbs with less than a two-minute gap to the leaders. As expected, attacks occurred. “There was a move with seven riders, and we had Enzo in there,” Philippe added. “It was really important to be part of it because when a group goes with 10 kilometres to go, you never know how it might end. They caught the last men of the breakaway, but this disorganized the group, and it didn’t go very far. So it ended up being a sprint.”
“We didn’t manage to position ourselves”, Philippe Mauduit
The peloton eventually caught the final attacker with four kilometres to go, with a slight uphill sprint (400 metres at 5%) coming up in Gond-Pontouvre. “The goal was to set up Cyril in the best possible way,” said Philippe. “Unfortunately, as a team, we weren’t able to support him up to the start of the sprint. Positioning at 500-600 metres was absolutely crucial with a large roundabout at the bottom of a descent and right before the final climb. To have a chance, you had to be well-positioned at that moment, without having used too much energy beforehand. We didn’t manage to position ourselves, we got blocked behind, and Cyril couldn’t tackle the base of the climb in a good position”. As a result, the Frenchman couldn’t sprint for the top spots and had to settle for 18th place across the line. Still present in the peloton, Lewis Bower slipped to fourth overall but retained the best young rider’s jersey. Up next is a 27-kilometre time trial. “The general classification will be decided tomorrow,” Philippe concluded. “Everyone will go full gas to try and get the best possible result.”
