After yesterday's second place, Maxime Daniel (Ag2r) proved his good condition when he finished fourth in stage 2 of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes. Second would have been enough to take the lead by virtue of bonus seconds.

"I'm still up there," he told Directvelo. "It feels good but we need to take use the form to win. Among the professionals, there is not necessarily a lot of opportunities to raise your arms so when you have a chance, you need to take it. I hope to win by the end of the Tour Poitou-Charentes. 

"In the final sprint today, I was on the wheel of Sébastien Turgot who protected me from the wind. The last kilometer was winding. There was a last corner 450m from the line. The road was a little bumpy, with gravel. I probably started a little slower than the others, and I already had a small gap to close at this point. With 400m to go, I should have  launched my sprint to get closer to the train of Quick Step. They were so many that they deserved to win the stage."
 

"We had two riders in front," sports director Stephane Goubert said. "It was not easy to have more, with two teams like Etixx and LottoNL Jumbo who are used to this kind of racing. It was already very good that we had Sebastian (Turgot) and Maxime (Daniel) in the right group, these are the two strongest riders of the team - currently - in this Tour of Poitou-Charentes. 

"In the end, he had to let the teams with more riders work, lie Etixx who wanted to win the stage and even put Tony Martin into a good GC position. You had to be very strong mentally to be there among the Lotto and Etixx riders. That's what the guys have tried to do but Maxime launched his sprint too early. He was beaten by three riders. 

"He missed out yesterday, today it was complicated. We have two stages to try to win. I hope that the results of the last days will make Maxime (Daniel) confident. It's a race that is good for him every year. The aim was initially to get back into the rhythm. After that, we knew that the results would follow. It's the case. The rest will follow."

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