Roubaix Lille Metropole went on the attack in the first stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes with Rudy Kowalski but missed out on the group that made it to the finish with a late move.

"I wanted to be in the break and try to take a distinctive jersey," Kowalski rold Directvelo. "I was in a fight with the rider from Movistar (Jasha Sütterlin, ed,). I won a single KOM sprint and was second twice. I knew that I had to win the last one to take the jersey, so I tried to attack alone. But the pack caught me 500m from the summit. 

"I also tried to do the intermediate sprints, but I immediately saw that the others were faster than me, and that's also why I focused on the mountains classification. I was just beaten by a rider who was faster than me. 

"It is true that the early part of the stage was special (the race was briefly stopped due to an incident ont the course, ed.). We had been warned at the briefing. We would have preferred it to be done at the neutral or real start, but it's like that. For sure this stop hurt the legs after a few kilometers but once it was gone, it was no longer a problem. 

"I prepared the TT of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes but having spent the day in the lead today, I do not think this is the best solution to make a good TT in two days. And when you see the list of participants here ... I will still give it all in the TT and why not try to take this polka dot jersey?"