Felline bests Carrara in Chantraine

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Fabio Felline (Footon-Servetto) defeated Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil) in a two-up sprint at the end of stage two of the Circuit de Lorraine in Chantraine on Thursday. Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet) led the first group of a fractured peloton home three seconds later.

Felline survived a protest lodged by Vacansoleil for interference with Carrara in the sprint, however the jury upheld the result. The latter rider won the race overall in 2009 and despite Thursday's result his team manager Hilaire Van Der Schueren said he will aim to make another move in the coming days.

"The bunch was complete at the start of the climb and for a second it appeared that Carrara won. Felline pushed himself off Carrara in the last 50 meters after he was afraid of getting closed in by a slight deviation by Matteo," he said.

"Carrara missed out on the win after the jury decided to respect the result. It will be difficult to win the race for the second year in a row but we are confident. Saturday will be the day to take the lead."

Felline's stage win also moved him into the lead of the general classification, replacing overnight leader and stage one winner Yauheni Hutarovich (Française Des Jeux), who dropped to 35th overall. Carrara and De Waele have moved into second and third, at four and nine seconds, respectively.