August 22, 2023
Tour Poitou – Charentes 2023 – Stage 1 🇫🇷 – Confolens – Matha : 195,2 km
Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.
Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Pro Cycling) won the bunch sprint on stage 1 of Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine on Tuesday. From a trio of riders to cross the line in Matha and separated by only half a wheel, Giovanni Lonardi (Eolo-Kometa) took second and Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) followed in third.
The 23-year-old Norwegian’s victory on the 193.1km opening stage replicated his start a week ago at the Tour of Denmark, where he took the leader’s jersey on that first day of racing, finishing fourth overall.
Tuesday’s victory was the fifth victory of the year for Wærenskjold, who took the first GC lead for the four-day race, one second over Scott McGill (Human Powered Health) and four seconds over the Eolo-Kometa duo of Lonardi and Diego Sevilla. McGill and Sevilla were part of a five-rider breakaway, McGill earning the sprint classification jersey.
Results :