Paul Penhoët and the Groupama-FDJ missed an opportunity on Wednesday in the second stage of the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine. In Niort, the young French rider was not really able to join the bunch sprint as he was too far back starting the final straight. He therefore finished just outside the top 10 (12th) and will have to wait until Friday for another chance. In the meantime, a decisive time trial is coming up on Thursday.
After a very eventful first stage on Tuesday, a more classic scenario was expected this Wednesday on the Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine, from Gensac-la-Pallue to Niort over 181 kilometres. Expectations were met, as a five-man breakaway, including Baptiste Veistroffer (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Filippo Turconi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane’), Maël Guégan (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), Jean-Louis Le Ny (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) and Charles Paige (TdT-Unibet), was established after just a few minutes. The peloton then slowly got going behind the five riders, which were down to four after only thirty kilometres of racing. “There was no one dangerous for the overall so UnoX-Mobility was not very committed in the chase,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “Since we wanted a sprint, we asked Eddy to pull a little with other teams. He didn’t use too much energy, but we still had to get involved.”
“We were hoping for better”, Frédéric Guesdon
The bunch managed the day with no trouble at all, and finally caught the last fugitive, namely Filippo Turconi, about five kilometres from the line. “There were two roundabouts in the last three kilometers”, explained Frédéric. “That was the only difficulty in the final. Otherwise, the roads were quite wide. There was a bend 300 metres from the line, but the finish was not very technical”. Three kilometers from the finish, a crash caused a split in the peloton, but the Groupama-FDJ train was able to stay at the front. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case a few moments later. “We couldn’t make our way out with Marc before the last turn, and the finishing straight was much shorter than what the roadbook said”, explained Paul. “We got caught out, it’s a real shame”. Too far behind his competitors in the last 200 metres, Paul Penhoët had to settle for twelfth place in the sprint. “He was very disappointed,” said Frédéric. “Some guys were happy with their work, but unfortunately the result isn’t there. We were hoping for better, and it’s not about the legs.”
Milan Fretin took the victory, Frederik Dversnes kept the lead in the general classification, with Enzo Paleni still in fifth place, nine seconds behind the Norwegian. “The overall should be decided tomorrow, especially since the time trial is longer than usual,” Frédéric added. “There will be big gaps over thirty kilometres. Enzo, Eddy and Thibaud are the best specialists in the squad, and they will do it full gas.”
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