Cycling, Tour du Limousin-Périgord-Nouvelle-Aquitaine: Lapeira rewards teamwork, Costiou retains the yellow jersey

Starting off very quickly with an average speed of over 42 km/h after the first hour of racing, the Tour du Limousin riders were quickly surprised by the day's difficulties on this Corrèze stage, allowing the breakaway group of nine courageous riders to take a lead (over three minutes). This group included Victor Lafay (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Van Rysel-Roubaix rider Kenny Molly, who had already escaped during the first two stages. The best climber, he consolidated his position by taking the lead on each climb.

Once past the coasts of Laguenne-les-Torts (7.16%) and Chameyrat (6.17%), the nine escapees maintained a gap of around three minutes, before they began to leave the ship one by one. This was the moment that Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB) chose to make his escape.

Lafay helped Lapeira a lot

Bezza had a lead of up to 20 seconds before seeing Victor Lafay close in on him. Henri-François Haquin (Wagner Bazin WB), Bezza's teammate, then joined the two strong riders. The peloton behind gave the breakaway riders no respite.

With a 300-meter lead, the trio didn't look like much. Lafay was working for Paul Lapeira, a former French champion. And the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale strategy was paying off. The Frenchman raised his arms to Masseret. "That was the plan," smiled Lapeira. "On finishes like this, I know I can perform well. To be honest, I suffered all day, but in the final, the guys did a great job for me."

Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B & B Hôtels) followed well to finish second and retain his yellow jersey. "I'm happy to keep it, that's the main thing today (Thursday)," he admitted.