Astana Pro Team continued its fantastic Sunday with an amazing solo victory of Luis Leon Sanchez at the second stage of the 2019 Tour de Suisse. Sanchez attacked with 11 kilometers to go and immediately opened a solid gap. He was able to stay clear away right until the finish line in Langnau im Emmental, taking a very emotional win.
“I am so happy I could win today, I did not expect I could be so strong in the final, but I was lucky to hold the gap until the end. We knew we have to do this race as hard as possible as there are many big sprinters in the peloton. We had to try to escape the bunch sprint to get a chance to fight for the victory. The team was super strong on the last two climbs and later when I saw a moment, I’ve made my attack. For a few kilometers, the situation still was on the limit as the peloton was really close, chasing me hard. But in the end, I’ve managed to resist and to win! I want to thank my teammates, they did phenomenal work during the whole day and, especially, in the final. It is a great moment for me to win here at the Tour de Suisse. Also, I want to congratulate Jakob Fuglsang and all Astana on the big success at the Critérium du Dauphiné!” said Sanchez.
With 2 climbs on each of the three local laps, the second stage provided a good opportunity for the riders who like and know how to attack. Astana Pro Team went on the front of the bunch at the bottom of the penultimate climb with around 40 kilometers to go, to set the pace. Firstly, it was Yuriy Natarov and Rodrigo Contreras and later, Andrey Zeits and Luis Leon Sanchez, who created a huge selection in the main group. Omar Fraile made a strong attack with 31 kilometers to go, but later he was caught back. But due to this attack, the group was split into parts. With 11 kilometers to go Luis Leon Sanchez went away solo and this was the winning move.
– We had a good plan for this stage to do it aggressive and hard for the rivals. All guys did a fantastic job, also Omar Fraile made a very nice attack, which helped us to reduce the peloton. We knew we have to keep on attacking and Luis Leon did it in the right moment. We can be happy with the way we started this Tour de Suisse and also with our team, that won the Critérium du Dauphiné in France! What a great day for Astana Pro Team, – said Dmitri Sedoun, sports director of Astana Pro Team.
Kasper Asgreen, perfectly launched by Deceuninck-QuickStep teammates Yves Lampaert, still had enough left in the legs to sprint to fourth place. His boldness paid off, the stage result together with the bonus seconds he had mopped up at the last intermediate sprint propelling the 24-year-old to the top of the general classification.
Riding in his first Tour de Suisse, Asgreen showed again his hot run of form that this year has landed him a maiden pro victory, the points jersey and third overall at the Tour of California, in addition to a resounding runner-up spot at his Ronde van Vlaanderen debut.
“This season has been incredible for me so far! I’ve made some big steps this year and this jersey is definitely another step in the right direction and that makes me happy. I wasn’t sure I would survive the climbs, but I tried to do my best and gave everything. Leading both the GC and the best young rider standings is great and it gives me great pleasure, but for now I’m focused on tomorrow’s stage, when we’ll try to keep the race together and go for a bunch sprint with Elia”, said Asgreen.
Stage 2 Brief Results:
- Luis León Sánchez Gil (Astana) at 4h01’21”
- Peter Sagan (BORA – hansgrohe) at 6″
- Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) s.t.
- Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck – Quick Step) s.t
- Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) s.t
- Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) s.t
- Omar Fraile Matarranz (Astana Pro Team) s.t
- Sven Erik Bystrøm (UAE-Team Emirates) s.t
- Nathan Haas (Team Katusha Alpecin) s.t
- Ben Swift (Team INEOS) s.t
General Classification After Stage 2:
- Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck – Quick Step) at 4h12’16”
- Peter Sagan (BORA – hansgrohe) s.t.
- Rohan Dennis (Bahrain Merida) at 1″
- Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) s.t.
- Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) at 6″
- Stefan Küng (Groupama – FDJ) at 10″
- Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) at 17″
- Geraint Thomas (Team INEOS) s.t.
- Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolás (Team INEOS) at 19″
- Yves Lampaert (Deceuninck – Quick Step) s.t.
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