Ridolfo learns valuable lesson on stage two of Tour Poitou

The second day of racing at Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine was almost a carbon copy of stage one with a four-man breakaway out front for most of the day ahead of the closing sprint with Team Novo Nordisk just outside the top placings this time around and Italian rouleur Filippo Ridolfo leftfrustrated in the final.

175.5 undulating kilometers between Jonzac and Gond-Pontouvre was ideal terrain for the four leaders, the quartet enjoying a healthy advantage for most of the day. That was until the peloton ramped up the chase and one stubborn survivor attacked, holding out until inside the final three kilometers and a by now very nervy bunch making the catch ahead of a fractured sprint finale.

“I took the final climb in a good position,” said Ridolfo. “But after the good work came the mistakes and I was too far behind on the last corner and had to sprint from too far back. It was my mistake, but it’s frustrating because I had good legs and I know I could have done better.”

“Experience wise today’s final was an excellent lesson, because it was both hectic and technical and the first thing I thought when I crossed the line was, not only did I mess up the final corner, but I was over reliant on thinking the group would split on the last climb. It didn’t and I won’t make that mistake again.”