Dumoulin wins Limousin's second stage

Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) won the second stage of the Tour du Limousin on Wednesday, besting compatriots Romain Feillu (Agritubel) and Sébastien Chavanel (Française Des Jeux) in the bunch gallop to the line.

With the time bonus awarded for first place, Frenchman Dumoulin moved into the overall race lead by one second over previous yellow jersey holder Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team).

The stage victory was up in the air until the final moments when Anthony Charteau (Caisse d'Epargne) was caught by the peloton with 200 metres to go after spending 155 kilometres off the front.

Charteau and Jonathan Thire (Auber 93) attacked the peloton after approximately 32 kilometres of racing and stretched their lead to nearly five minutes with 96 kilometres remaining.

The leading duo's lead gradually came down at the impetus of the Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team as they worked to defend the yellow jersey of Bozic. Charteau, only 10 seconds behind Bozic on general classification, was the virtual race leader on the road for much of the stage while Thire was not a threat, sitting 7:26 behind the Slovenian race leader.

On the day's final climb, the third category Côte de Nouaille at km 167.1, Charteau dropped Thire and continued on towards the finish in Felletin on his own.

With 15 kilometres remaining, Thire was absorbed by the peloton while Charteau maintained a lead of 1:35. Five kilometres later Charteau's lead was reduced by 25 seconds to 1:10 as the Frenchman desperately tried to take both the stage win and the overall lead.

Charteau still held a tenuous 25 second lead with five kilometres remaining which was then reduced to 8 seconds at the two kilometres to go banner. Charteau dug deep to claim a stage victory, but the Frenchman was swept up by the lead-out trains of the sprinters with 200 metres remaining to the finish.

While Charteau's bid for victory came up short, he did manage to take maximum points at the two final intermediate sprint lines which moved him into the lead of the sprint classification.

The peloton faces the longest stage of the Tour du Limousin on Thursday, covering 189.6 kilometres from St Martin de Jussac to St Junien. The riders have three categorised climbs on the parcours, including the second category Côte de Maluchat with 18.7 kilometres remaining in the stage, in addition to three intermediate sprints.