Jesus Herrada (Movistar) again proved that he is perfectly suited to the lumpy French races in August when he came out on top in the Tour du Limousin queen stage. In the uphill finish, he launched an attack 300m from the line and managed to put 10 seconds into the field that was led home by Davide Rebellin (CCC) and Thomas Sprengers (Topsport Vlaanderen) which was enough to win both the stage and take the overall lead.

With a fast sprint and good climbing skills, Jesus Herrada is suited to the lumpy terrain in the French regions of Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. In the last two years, he has won the final stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes and this year he is chasing success in the Tour du Limousin whose hillier course suits him even better.

Herrada recently showed great condition in the Vuelta a Burgos and this naturally made him one to watch in the four-day race in France. Today he put himself in position to take the first stage race win of his career when he won the queen stage of the race.

The French race is characterized by its hilly terrain and lack of flat road and it is often loaded with uphill finishes on short climbs. This year it was the second stage that had the toughest finish and after an attentive ride in the opening sprint stage Herrada was ready to strike.

After the lone survivor from an early 3-rider break had been caught with 15km to go, it was a small 60-rider peloton that sped towards the bottom of the final climb. A few late attacks were all neutralized and so it all came down to a big battle between the puncheurs on the steep slope.

Herrada made his move with 300m to go when he launched gutsy attack from afar. He turned out to be in a class of his own as he put 10 seconds into an elite group of favourites that was left to battle it out for second. Last year’s podium finisher Davide Rebellin was next across the line as he beat Thomas Sprengers in the sprint.

Race leader Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani) defended himself well to take ninth in the same time as Rebelllin but it was not enough to keep the race lead. Herrada now moves into the top position with a 10-second advantage over the Italian.

He will try to defend it in tomorrow’s third stage which is slightly easier. A long day of rolling terrain with three category 3 climbs ends with a categorized ascent 24km from the finish and then another uphill drag to the line Aigurande.

The queen stage

After the opening sprint stage, it was time for the queen stage which brought the riders over 188.5km from Pompadour to Lissac-sur-Couze. After a lumpy first part, the riders would tackle a category 2 and a category 3 climb in the middle section but it was the category 2 Cot de Chaleil with 17.5km to go that was expected to do the first serious damage before the riders descended to the bottom of the short final climb to the finish where the puncheurs were expected to shine.

It was a perfect day for a bike race when the riders gathered under a sunny sky for the start. Jeremy Leveau (Roubaix) was the only non-starters when 141 rolled out for their neutral ride.

Three riders get clear

It was the usual fast start to the race with and it was a Bretagne rider who got the first significant advantage. Both a Cofidis rider and Kevin Lebreton (Armee) tried to join him but it was all back together after 10km of racing.

Lebreton refused to give up as he joined forces with a rider from Roubaix and one from Cofidis but it was the next move that worked. Baptiste Planckaert (Roubaix), Marco Minnaard (Wanty) and Julien Duval (Armee) took off and already had an advantage of 40 seconds at the 15km mark.

Bardiani in control

The peloton slowed down and so the gap quickly went out to 4.05 before Bardiani took control at the 30km mark. They still allowed the gap to grow and it reached 5.30 at the end of the first hour of the race. Meanwhile, Planckaert beat Minnaard and Duval in the first intermediate sprint.

At the 50km mark, the gap was a massive 6.40 but this was as much as the escapees would get. After 62km of racing, it was down to 5.45. Meanwhile, Francesco Gavazzi (Southeast) who crashed yesterday, abandoned the race.

Bonus seconds fro Planckaert

The gap hovered around the 5.30 mark while Planckaert beat Minnaard and Duval in the second sprint. Duval won the first KOM sprint ahead of Minnaard and Planckaert while KOM leader Giorgio Cecchinel (Southeast) picked up the final point of offer.

In the feed zone with 90km to go, the gap was still 5.55 and moments later Planckaert made it a clean sweep of bonus seconds when he beat Minnaard and Duval in the final intermediate sprint. This is when the peloton started to accelerate and as the gap came down quickly, lots of riders got dropped.

The peloton accelerates

The gap was down to 4.10 with 80km to go before it stabilized a bit, allowing dropped riders to rejoin the peloton. Meanwhile, Duval was dropped by his two companions.

In the peloton, CCC joined forces with Bardiani and so the pace was again increased. With 63km to go, the gap was only 3.15 while Duval was 15 seconds behind the two leaders. He would give up and sat up to wait for the peloton.

Planckaert takes off

At the bottom of the second climb, the gap was 2.50 and when Minnaard led Planckaert over the top, Cecchinel followed just 2.05 later. Moments later, Julien Loubet (Marseille) and Fabien Doubey (FDJ) abandoned.

The gap was coming down and with 30km to go it was just 1.40. The escapees still had 1.30 in hand when they hit the bootm of the Cote de Chaleil where the peloton exploded to pieces and Planckaert dropped Minnaard who was caught by the peloton.

Late attacks

Planckaert reached the summit in first position, followed by Brice Feillu (Bretagne), Theo Vimpere (Auber 93) and Quentin Pacher (Armee). However, he was brought back with 15km to go.

That’s when Ruben Fernandez (Movistar), Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne) and Luca Chirico (Bardiani) took off and Delaplace would soon drop his ompanions. However, it was all back together with 5km to go where only 60 riders were left in the splintering peloton. With 300m to go, Herrada made his effort which was enough to win the stage.