Manuel Belletti brought a two-year victory drought to an end when he sprinted to the win in today's final stage of the Tour du Limousin. The win came as a huge relief for the Italian who admitted to have been through a hard time.

After several years at the WorldTour level, Manuel Belletti steeped down to the pro continental ranks for the 2014 season when he signed a contract with the Androni team. So far the season has not brought a lot of luck for the fast Italian but today things finally changed.

In the final stage of the Tour du Limousin, his team showed plenty of confidence in their sprinter and they helped chase behind an amazing Christophe Kern (Europcar) who single-handedly kept the peloton at bay. The Frenchman was brought back with less than a kilometre to go and in the ensuing bunch sprint, Belletti paid back his teammates for their work by holding off Kevin Reza and Bjorn Leukemans.

"I know the Tour du Limousin and looking at the profiles, I knew that this stage was likely to end in a sprint as it was the easiest. The team did evertyhting they could to protect me throughout the day and now I paid back the work by winning the stage."

Crossing the line, Reza raised his arms in celebration but it was later announced that Belletti had crossed the line as the first rider.

"Obviously I had a big doubt until my victory was announced," Belletti said. "I started the sprint with 300 meters to go. It was a little bit far from the finish and I felt that he came back strong strongly. I made a bike throw and managed to take the win."

"Of course [it's a relief]. It's my first win in the last two years. Those two years have not been easy and even this year I have not always had my chance. I hope to win before the end of the season and this win will give me confidence.

"It's a good win but my best memory is my victory in the 2010 Giro."