Maxime Bouet: "A very fast first stage"
Maxime Bouet, Miguel Florez and Matîs Louvel finished on the heels of a group of twenty-five riders who battled for victory in the first stage of the Settimana Ciclista Italiana.
On the line…
“This first stage was very fast, with wind, with 25 kilometres to go, there was a very steep climb that went up very quickly. We were badly placed and we caught all the riders in front of us who were getting away one after the other. At the top of this difficulty, the leading group had made the difference. We tried to ride behind them and with five kilometres to go, I tried to bridge up to them, but I had to settle down with a small place. It’s a pity because Matîs and I had good legs, but this mistake cost us to catch the good group. It’s our fault. We still have four more stages to do well in this Settimana Ciclista Italiana, which is ridden on small roads with a lot of windy parts. But the race isn’t over, we mustn’t give up, we are not far away”.
The débrief’
“With twenty-five kilometres to go, the riders climbed a hill, and we were trapped in the group, 20 riders started and we were behind, we were 3 in another group with Miguel, Matîs and Maxime. We missed out on a good opportunity and we want to make up for it as soon as possible”.