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Frenchman Jimmy Casper beat Britain's Jeremy Hunt in a tight sprint finish to win the second stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes.

Casper's compatriot Guillaume Blot came third, with the trio breaking away over the closing stretch to finish just two seconds ahead of the peloton on the 183.5km run from Rouillac to St Maxient L'Ecole.

Anthony Ravard, winner of the first stage, retains the lead in the general classification after crossing the line with the main bunch.

Tour du Poitou-Charentes: Stage two results

1 Jimmy CASPER ( FRA )

2 Jeremy HUNT ( GBR )

3 Guillaume BLOT ( FRA )

4 Alexandre PICHOT ( FRA )

5 Steven CAETHOVEN ( BEL )

STAGE ONE

Anthony Ravard won the 185.5km first stage of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes in Aigre ahead of Sebastien Joly and Jerome Pineau.

The Agritubel rider powered to the front of the sprint finish in an agonisingly close stage that saw the first five riders allotted the same finishing time, and the peloton crossing the line just 10 seconds behind.

Joly (Francaise des Jeux) and Pineau (Quick Step) made it an all-French sweep of the podium places, with compatriot Loic Desriac and Sweden's Michael Stevenson just missing out.

For the winner the victory comes as some relief: Ravard won three stages of the Tour de Normandie last season, but the victory on Tuesday was his first of the year. Ravard's bonus seconds give him a 13 second lead in the general classification.

Tour du Poitou-Charentes: Stage one results

1 Anthony RAVARD ( FRA )

2 Sébastien JOLY ( FRA ) +00"

3 Jérôme PINEAU ( FRA ) +00"

4 Loïc DESRIAC ( FRA ) +00"

5 Michael STEVENSON ( SWE ) +00"

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