Matteo Moschetti, fourth in the sprint of Plougoumelen

Tour de Bretagne
Etapa 2: Louisfert-Plougoumelen (180 km)

After a first day in which he could not get involved in the massive arrival, the Italian Matteo Moschetti brought out his top speed in the conclusion of the second stage of the Tour of Brittany. In a race with an interesting roster of fast riders, the Polartec-Kometa rider signed an outstanding fourth place finish. It was his compatriot Matteo Malucelli (Androni Sidermec) who won in Plougoumelen, beating the German Max Kanter (Team Sunweb) and the Italian Jareb Mareczko (Wilier Triestina). A triumph that, after his third place in the first round, catapulted him to the provisional leadership of a general where Moschetti, eighteenth, is the best classified in the Madrid squad.

The stage, 180 kilometres between Louisfert and Plougoumelen, was marked by the offensive bet of the Frenchman Romain Bacon (Nogent Sur Oise) and the Norwegian Haakon Aalrust (Team Coopo Sykkel), a spoiled breakaway whose difference would manage the bunch in a game that, less than 70 kilometres from the end, gave the formation of a quartet by the arrival from behind of the French Thevenot (Nogent Sur Oise) and Gouault (Roubaix LM). With more than four minutes of margin the quartet would stand in the first of the laps of the final circuit. But the gap would narrow rapidly as a result of the efforts of several teams with fast men.

With just over half a minute to go with seven kilometres to go in relation to a squad that had been launched, the breakaway ended up being hunted down less than three kilometres away. The preparations for the sprint, the tension of its imminence, gave rise to a 500m fall that I can save well Moschetti and that did not affect any of the riders of the team. Previously, about 20 kilometers from the finish, the Austrian Patrick Gamper and Juan Camacho were involved in a fall of which the worst stop, and for mechanical reasons, because it affected its rear wheel, was the Manchego. They both arrived off the hook more than nine minutes later.

Beyond that incident, and in general terms, a day of positive reading for a Polartec-Kometa in which also, after a first day somewhat doubtful with stomach problems, showed an improvement Madrid’s Diego Pablo Sevilla.

This Friday, the longest stage of the Tour of Brittany: a third stage connecting Baden with Clohars Carnoët over 181.1 km.

(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)