Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa- B&B Hotels) attacked the break on the second ascent of San Luca to take a career-first grand tour win at the 2024 Tour de France, but it was a preview of future GC battles that really animated the day.
GC Battle Opens
GC rivals Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) battled on the day’s final climb and traded positions all the way to the line, testing each other for the battles that are to come in later stages. While Pogačar didn’t gain any time over Vingegaard, his performance was enough to put him in the maillot jaune on Monday.
“In the final circuit I felt super good and the pace was super high already the first time up San Luca because of how the Visma team pulled. Then, the second time, we decided to try so I could test myself a bit.
“Jonas Vingegaard was really quickly on my wheel. I’m not surprised of his level. We cooperated well together, but Remco and Richard did it too and came back to our wheel at the very end.
“The whole circuit in Bologna was super crowded, and the climb was insane! Really unbelievable. It’s the cycling we should all love.
“Am I going to keep the yellow jersey for long? Well, I prefer to take it day by day and stick to the original plan.”
Romain Bardet, who started the day in yellow, lost time in the final 5km of the stage. American Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) were among those who lost 21 seconds to Vingegaard, Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) in an explosive close to a largely quiet stage.
First Tour Win for Arkea B&B
Tour rookie Kevin Vauquelin gave Arkéa B&B its first stage win at the Tour de France in what was the team’s biggest result in its short history.
“It was my dream to take part in the Tour. That was the original dream,” Vauquelin said at the finish. “So now to win a stage in it, that’s amazing, and for the team as well – that just makes me incredibly happy.”
Vauquelin got into the early break of 10 that formed after around an hour of racing, and DSM-Firmenich Post NL and the teams of the “Big 4” let them go. It was on the double ascent of the Côte de San Luca in the final hour where Vauquelin made his move.
Decisive San Luca
Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson both worked hard for Vingegaard, and UAE Emirates joined the mix on the second ascent to support Roglič while other GC hopefuls were not up to the test.
Pogačar made his move over the summit of the San Luca with around 10km to go.
Vingegaard hopped straight onto the wheel and the twosome plummeted down the sinuous descent into Bologna.
The two traded turns on the short final gallop to the line and looked poised to take scores of seconds over the rest of the GC pack. However, Evenepoel made a huge move out of the chasers with Carapaz, and the bridged to the two “bigs” just meters from the finish.
Evenepoel in White
Remco Evenepoel is the new leader of the youth classification. While the battle on the climb was between Pogacar and Vingegaard, Evenepoel made his move on the technical descent, putting his superb time trial skills to use to close in on his opponents. In the final 500 meters, the former World Champion bridged across and concluded the stage in that small group but with a 21-second buffer over the rest of the general classification contenders, a result which moved him into the white jersey and to second place in the overall standings.
“The first two days have gone pretty well for our team. I am happy to see I’ve made some improvements and also that I could fight until the end and come back to Tadej and Jonas. I was a bit far when they attacked, but I still had some energy left to erase the deficit and join them after what has been a really hard day. The way I responded to their attack gives me a lot of confidence”, said Remco after the stage. “Wearing a jersey and being on the podium in the biggest race of the season is an honor and I will try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Cavendish Watch
While Cavendish still spent the day off the back, he seemed in better spirits today, smiling at the depart. Monday’s third stage is a 230km, extra-flat slog west from Plaisance to Turin that will see his first opportunity to break Merckx’s record. Will he have the powder to make his move?
2024 Tour de France: Stage 2 Brief Results
- Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) 4h43’42”
- Jonas Abrahmsen (Uno-X Mobility) +36”
- Quentin Packer (Groupama FDJ) +49”
General Classification After Stage 2
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 9h53’30”
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step)s.t.
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma Lease a Bike) s.t.
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