ProTouch navigate through the streets of France
ProTouch’s newly signed Rwandan rider, Moise Mugisha made his debut on the day and showed how strong he was by putting in a number of attacks in succession off the front of the peloton.
The Beatles’ long and winding road would have been a suitable description of Honeydew-based ProTouch Continental Cycling’s first taste of racing in France on Tuesday, September 21 at Le Tour de Bretagne.
The team started the stage in the heart of Brittany, on the borders of Côtes-d’Armor and Morbihan, Le Cambout.
The day was a typical case of narrow rolling roads for the duration of the stage with the first attacks bursting through the forest of Lanouée and five riders breaking off the front of the peloton on the borders of Côtes d’Armor and Morbihan.
ProTouch’s newly signed Rwandan rider, Moise Mugisha made his debut on the day and showed how strong he was by putting in a number of attacks in succession off the front of the peloton.
Kent Main and Rohan du Plooy held the new man back and made sure that his attacks happened when he could make them count.
Callum Ormiston was the team’s top-placed finisher only 2:05 down from the winner, finishing in the peloton amongst top riders from European teams.
Stage 2 started at what seemed like the lead out for the finish line – with a tailwind this was bound to happen as the racing never seemed to settle down to a level that allowed for some relaxing time.
The route rolled along with many tight turns and narrow roads that barely allowed for one team vehicle to occupy the space, yet vehicles still managed to pass each other in amongst riders feeding.
The chase was on for the complete stage and the four laps of the finishing circuit once again showed that with the twist and turns, bike handling skills needed to be on point.
Moise had his front wheel taken out in a crash on a tight turn, with a large group of riders being held up as a result.
ProTouch finished off stage 6 of the Tour de Bretagne like every other stage of their first tour in France as it was on from the gun with the weather overcast at the start, with a slight chill in the air.
The top contenders are all still close on the GC and they were happy to let the break stay ahead of them, but never letting it get too far away that it would put the top 10 under pressure.
ProTouch riders hung in on the day and after four days of hard racing over 169km average stage distances, the fatigue and lack of international racing started to show.
The remainder of the team finished safely and the following stage had a real sting in the tail at the finish.
