Mauro Finetto (Neri Sottoli) took his first ever victory in a stage race when he finished safely witht he bunch in the final stage of the Tour du Limousin. However, the Italian admitted to have been a bit concerned with Christophe Kern's strong attack in the finale.

Mauro Finetto went into the final sprint stage of the Tour du Limousin with a comfortable overall lead and used his strong Neri Sottoli team to secure the overall victory. However, he endured a few nervous moments as a strong attack by overall rival Christophe Kern threatened to destroy it all on the final circuit.

In the end, he managed to secure his first ever overall victory in a stage race but he admiited to have been concerned by his French rival.

"It was good," he said. "We managed to control the race. In the end, there was an attack by Christophe Kern but fortunately the Androni team wanted to win the stage which helped us. In the end I did not sprint, I was afraid of a mechanical problem or a crash.

"I was a little afraid of Kern but I knew that you could quickly gain time on this circuit. In addition, the sprint teams began to chase so I had less nervousness about the final victory.

"This victory means a lot to me, it's my first win in a stage race so it's a great day for me. I hope there will be others."

"They were tenacious, professional and serious," manager Luca Scinto said of his just. "Just like I want them to be. Mauro Finetto took a victory in France but it was the result of the work of the entire team. Hopefully, it's a good omen for the final part of the season. They were guided by my colleagues Serge Parsani and Stefano Garzelli, who have worked very well. I'm happy because the team is finding the combativeness that characterizes it. It is in our DNA to find hard and never give up. That's what we want to show in the next few weeks."