After claiming yesterday that the stage winner Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) had ruined his chances by passing too closely, hooking his handlebars and almost causing him to crash, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) got his revenge today by winning stage two of the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The French road race champion sped home ahead of compatriot Bryan Coquard (Europcar), Pelucchi, Aleksander Porsev (Katusha), Garmin-Sharp’s Steele von Hoff and the rest of the main bunch.
Pelucchi continues to lead overall, holding a three seconds advantage over Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox) and Kévin Reza (Team Europcar). Bouhanni is seventh, ten seconds back.
Today’s racing is split over two stages, with the morning 93.6 kilometre leg taking the riders from Ligne to Angers.
Early on, five riders got clear, with Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp), Julian Kern (AG2R La Mondiale), Cyril Bessy (Cofidis) Rony Martias (Sojasun) and Duber Quintero (Colombia) riding hard to try to build a good lead. However the bunch wasn’t willing to give them any breathing space and the gap didn’t grow any bigger than a minute and a half.
The quintet was reeled in 25 kilometres from the line, prompting Sojasun’s Anthony Delaplace to jump clear. He was only able to open a thirty second led, and was hauled back inside the final three kilometres.
Bouhanni was psyched to prove a point after yesterday’s stage and positioned himself well in the final run into the line. He the blasted home first ahead of Coquard and Pelucchi, claiming his fourth victory of the season after stages in the Tour of Oman, Paris-Nice and also in the Val d'Ille Classic.
“It’s true that I was still upset [after yesterday], but I managed to stay focussed. There were five riders in the break and we decided to leave the work to Team IAM,” he said. “Knowing that the finale was a bit dangerous, we agreed at the stage briefing to take control on the final lap of the circuit.
“My team-mates were perfect; Benoît Vaugrenard did a great job for 2.5 kilometers, with Anthony Geslin and me on the wheel. Anthony took over with 500 meters to go and that launched me 200 meters from the finish line. I didn’t see anyone come back after that, all my rivals stayed on my back wheel.”
The 2.1-ranked race continues this afternoon with a 6.8 kilometre time trial in Angers.
Circuit Cycliste Sarthe, France (2.1)
Stage two, Ligné to Angers:
1, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) 93.6 kilometres in 2 hours 22 mins 57 secs
2, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar)
3, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling)
4, Alexander Porsev (Katusha)
5, Steele von Hoff (Garmin Sharp)
6, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard)
7, Alexei Tsatevich (Katusha)
8, Takashi Miyazawa (Team Saxo Tinkoff)
9, Danilo Napolitano (Accent Jobs – Wanty)
10, Tobais Ludvigsson (Argos Shimano) all same time
General classification after stage 2a:
1, Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) 7 hours 2 mins 38 secs
2, Nicola Boem (Bariani Valvole CSF Inox) at 3 secs
3, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) same time
4, Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole CSF Inox) at 4 secs
5, Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) at 6 secs
6, Rony Martias (Sojasun) same time
7, Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) at 10 secs
8, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin Sharp)
9, Alexei Tsatevich (Katusha)
10, Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) all same time