Wackermann finishes tenth in an opening sprint in Poitou-Charentes, which was marred by a crash

35º Tour du Poitou-Charentes
Stage 1: Pons – Parthenay (198,4 km)

A crash in the last five kilometres conditioned the sprint that resolved the first stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, in which the Italian Elia Viviani imposed his speed and Luca Wackermann signed the tenth final place.

A placid first stage until then, with a three-man breakaway that essentially had a three-minute lead, which ended with only one rider in the lead (Robin Skivild) and had a trio in front again when the Norwegian was caught by two Caja Rural riders.

But the adventure ended in the final 30 km and the group began to manage the final kilometres with increasing tension. The breakaway came, but both Wackermann, Manuel Belletti, in his return to the peloton, and Davide Bais, saved the fall and arrived in the leading group of 30 riders that disputed the partial victory. Erik Fetter lost 28 seconds.

#TPC2021. A big crash conditioned the sprint, faced by a small group where our team had at least three riders. Luca Wackermann, our best man at the finish: 10º. #EOLOKOMETACyclingTeam #Stage1 pic.twitter.com/txdNB5s35Q

— EoloKometaCyclingTeam (@EoloKometaTeam) August 24, 2021

Manuel Belletti returned to competition in this race and arrived in the front group: “I felt pretty good for having been away from racing for 103 days. It was a 197-kilometre stage with a hard finish on a slight climb…. I had to brake a lot at the roundabout 300 metres from the finish and I lost a lot of speed on the climb. And then it’s difficult to get back up to speed…. In the last 100 metres I had no more energy”.

The French race faces its second stage this Wednesday: 191.6 kilometres between Parthenay and Ruffec with a winding route full of steep climbs.