Winner of the final stage in last year's race, Manuel Belletti (Southeast) had a frustraing Tour du Limousin as he crashed out of the race on the first day.

No fractures were revealed at the hospital but Belletti will undergo further checks of his shoulder tomorrow.

With Belletti out of the race, Simone Ponzi took over sprinting duties for Southeast and took a fine fourth place. Earlier in the stage Giorgio Cecchinel had been in the break and taken the mountains jersey.

"I never imagined we would go for victory," Cecchinel told Directvelo. "There were several teams that were chasing behind us. I felt good from the start, and I decided to got for the KOM sprints. It's a good reward, but our goal is to help Mauro Finetto to win the race again."