The first stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes did not go as well as IAM Cycling would have liked or expected. Ready to power through the stage with the help of his teammates, including Heinrich Haussler who is just returning to racing after recovering from a broken pelvis he suffered at the Tour de Suisse, Matteo Pelucchi found himself on the deck without the ability to defend his chances. 

Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) managed to take both the sprint, and as a result, the leader’s jersey, while Pelucchi remained anonymous, to the chagrin of his directors Kjell Carlström and Eddy Seigneur. That’s in spite of the fact that in the morning Heinrich Haussler and Matteo Pelucchi devised a detailed strategy to defeat the big favourites for the stage win; however with the long finishing straight, all their planning was for naught. IAM Cycling’s Italian sprinter expressed his regret and apologized to his teammates at the bus after the stage. 

“I am really sorry. I wanted to win so much, but I am the one who made the mistake that sent me to the mat.” Suffering from road rash on the outside of his left thigh, Pelucchi, who won the 1st stage of the Tour de la Sarthe, described how his day ended. 

“I arrived at the 180° turn just before the flamme rouge in excellent position. The team had done a fantastic job for me in the kilometres leading up to the final and Heinrich Haussler was able to drop me perfectly on Bouhanni’s wheel. Unfortunately, I probably jumped a little too abruptly and my front wheel shot out from under me before I could react and catch myself from falling. This is purely bad luck, but it’s a shame because I had really good legs. I felt even better than I did this past Sunday at the Classic de l’Indre where I was able to grab 6th place. Fortunately, there are still stages that suit my abilities before we reach the final stage on Friday.”