It was a mixed day for Bretagne in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes as Yauheni Hutarovich was second in the sprint while Arnaud Gerard made the selection in the wind and defended the leader's jersey.

"The satisfaction is to keep the jersey," Gerard told Directvelo. "It was a day animated by Etixx. It's just a shame that Yauheni (Hutarovich) did not win, we could have made the double. He will try tomorrow. Perhaps the sprinters will still want a sprint finish in the Tour Poitou-Charentes because they again missed out on a chance today. 

"Being in this group is still good. I expected that there would be a race with the wind. I suspected that there would be movement from Lotto and Etixx. When the split was created, we really rode well, staying vigilant. We were still four in the front group (McLay, Ledanois, Hutarovich and Gerard, ed).Hats off to the whole team! 

"Tomorrow is another day, with a morning stage and a time trial in the afternoon. We'll see if the legs respond well." 

"In the sprint, I had taken the wheel of Sep Vanmarcke," Hutarovich told Directvelo. "It was not too bad for me. I like this kind of sprint. I chose to start 220-250m from the finish. I tried to anticipate. I was too far in the right-hand side of the road. Matteo Trentin was in the other side. He made ​​no obvious moves, but I couldn't get clear. I got boxed in when I had the capacity to pass him and to go for the win today. It is a shame as I was able to sprint when Trentin only missed  50m. With the speed, I think I was going to pass him without this gap. But with the barriers, I could not pass him. I was only 40 centimeters from the barriers. I tried to protest but it was up to the commissioners to make a decision. 

"The positive point of the day is still that we keep the jersey. Today we were well placed. But when it split, I had lost the other riders of the team. I had to make a big sprint to get there, but we were four in front. It was very good. We had to make the choice to sacrifice some riders. Daniel (McLay) and Kevin (Ledanois) had to do a lot of work, it's normal that they were dropped in the finale. The whole team has given a lot."

"It's a little disappointing for Yauheni (Hutarovich) when he passed him five meters later," sports director Roger Trehin told Directvelo. "On the other hand, we keep the leader's jersey and it was the goal of the day but when we are so close to a stage victory, especially with Yauheni who has been around for a while, it is a little frustrating. 

"The team riders have done a good job, a great race. They followed the instructions, they were always placed near the front of the race. Riders like Kevin (Ledanois) and Daniel (McLay) were dropped from the leading group in the final but they had the big job so this is normal. The other riders had already had to work early in the stage. Everyone worked well."