Stage 2 of this intense stage race in Brixia looks like a long, boring flat stage, except for the final 10 kilometers, which is all about climbing. It’s the first out of two chances for the climbers to take a stage win, and maybe decide the overall winner of the race. Pozzovivo Caruso Van Den Broeck
are favourites according to the bookmakers, who clearly don’t fancy the Venezuelan duo, Rujano Alarcon
The bunch isn’t very big, but all 84 riders that started yesterday’s team time trial are ready to roll today. The weather isn’t like yesterday, the riders line up to rain at the start line.
A big group of 15 riders attacks for the early breakaway. Bianchi
got 3 riders, and Emu Export Pirelli
both got 2 riders in the group. But the peloton isn’t very happy about letting that many riders slip away, and they’re riding fast behind.
And indeed, the peloton, led by Pokerstars, catch them with 131 kilometers left of the stage.
Salgueiro Nordhaug
are the next attackers, and they quickly build a lead of more than a minute, and starts to co-operate.
They’re joined by Colex Lima Pozzo
with 118 kilometers to go. Their gap back to the peloton is almost 3 minutes, meaning they’re looking good for an early breakaway.
Lima
outsprints Nordhaug Pozzo
for the first intermediate sprint. Their gap back to the peloton is 3’20, but there’s action behind.
It’s Pietropolli
who has launched an attack, he’s followed by Santamorita
Ferrari isn’t happy with only having Pozzo up front, and they’re trying to give themselves the “numbers” up front.
But Agudelo
and Aker Solutions aren’t happy about that, and Agudelo attacks away from the peloton. Though, he’s marked by Maisto
meaning Ferrari has 3 riders ahead of the peloton! Just behind them, there’s also a team attack from Bianchi, as Aramendia & Matzbacher
have picked up the chase.
Lima
is incredibly unlucky, and crashes out of the breakaway with 80 kilometers left of the stage.
Agudelo
makes the catch for the 6 chasers, giving us 10 riders up front. They’re: Salgueiro Colex Pozzo, Maisto & Pietropolli Nordhaug & Agudelo Armendia & Matzbacher Santamorita
Their gap back to the peloton is 6’30 with 78 kilometers left. Also, the rain has stopped, but the wind has picked up, and the wind indicator now says “48,” meaning positioning will be important back in the peloton.
Pozzo
takes the 2nd intermediate sprint, ahead of team mate Maisto Matzbacher
The peloton is controlled by Pokerstars Vespa
and with 48 kilometers left, they’re 4 minutes behind the breakaway.
And the Italian crowd goes crazy! Their champion, Caruso
launches a surprising attack with 34 kilometers left, and he’s followed by his countryman Pozzovivo
putting huge pressure on Pokerstars.
But they’re caught by the Green Force, who continues their determined chase after the breakaway. With 26 kilometers to go, they’re chasing 2’45 behind. Also, it’s bad news for Aker Solutions and Pirelli back in the peloton, as Alarcon Van Den Broeck
have positioned themselves horrible, a long way back in the peloton. All other favourites are well positioned.
22 kilometers to go, and still on the flat, Caruso
launches another attack! This time, he’s followed by Rujano Brandt
Who’s going to chase in the peloton now?
Only 13 kilometers to go for the 10 riders in the breakaway, and Pietropolli
takes the last intermediate sprint. Ferrari is everywhere! Their lead back to the peloton is 1’20.
The peloton manages to catch Caruso Rujano Brandt
but with the catch, the peloton also gets disorganized, giving Van Den Broeck Alarcon
a golden opportunity to improve their positions, and they both do just that, sitting pretty at the front of the peloton now.
And it doesn’t take long before we see why they improved their positions. Alarcon
launches an attack with 11.5 kilometers to go, just before the short descent to the foot of the final climb. He’s followed by Osella Bjelkmark Rujano
Vespa California
pick up the chase, and with 10 kilometers to go, they’re only 15 seconds behind Alarcon Rujano
and 1’15 behind the breakaway.
The 4 late attackers are caught, and Pozzovivo
senses this is the perfect moment to dig deep. He’s followed by Brandt Van Den Broeck Bjelkmark
Rujano
doesn’t want to miss the fun, and is straight after Pozzovivo
Strangely, Alarcon
doesn’t even try to follow the attacks, was his first acceleration enough for him?
Up at the very front, Agudelo
makes one last desperate attack with 6300 meters left, but it isn’t meant to be, as Pozzovivo
is flying just behind him. Pozzovivo seems to have pulled a masterstroke here, as all other favourites are caught behind the breakaway on these narrow roads. Will he pull away to both the stage win and the overall win already today?
Behind the 2 in front, it’s suddenly Anton Alarcon
who has found space for themselves, on the left side of the road. They launch a desperate attack, as they’re already almost 1’30 behind Pozzovivo Agudelo
Agudelo
impresses, as he’s still able to follow Pozzovivo
with 4500 meters left. The other favourites have also gained a lot of time on them now, as Anton’s Alarcon’s
attack didn’t do anything else than raising the pace. Pozzovivo and Agudelo leads with 45 seconds with 4.5 kilometers left.
Pozzovivo
isn’t doing well here, and Rujano
uses the opportunity to launch himself up to the front 2, no one else is able to follow, meaning we’ve a trio holding a small lead over all others. It’s Anton Alarcon
who leads the chase behind.
And with 3700 meters to go, Pozzovivo’s
slow pace up front means it’s all back together! Pozzovivo Rujano Anton Alarcon & Agudelo Van Den Broeck Orozco & Krasnoperov Maisto & Caruso
look to hold the upper hand in the fight for the stage win, as they’re best positioned in the front group.
And with only 1700 meters left, we’ve got a “real” selection. It’s Alarcon Rujano Pozzovivo
in the first line, but they’re closely followed by Van Den Broeck Lloret Caruso Anton.
1 kilometer to go, Alarcon Pozzovivo
are pushing the pace, forcing Anton Lloret
to let go.
But it looks like both of them has to pay for their pacing now, as it’s Van Den Broeck
who storms to the front in the sprint. He's looking for a huge stage win, and he's really going for it!
And it’s Van Den Broeck
who can celebrate the stage win! Pozzovivo
follows in 2nd, ahead of Rujano Alarcon Caruso
Caruso just manages to hang on to the 4 others, which might prove vital for his overall ambitions.
Behind the front 5, it’s Anton Lloret Duarte
arriving the finish line. A good final kilometer from Duarte, who was a long way down the road with 4 kilometers to go. But they’ve nonetheless lost valuable time to the first 5, meaning they’ll need something special on the final mountain stage if they’re going to get a podium place in the overall standing.
The Emu duo, Krasnoperov & Orozco
complete the top 10 today, more than 1’30 behind stage winner Van Den Broeck.
Today's results mean Pozzovivo
holds the overall lead, but it's close! There's less than 1 minute separating first 5, and 1'08 separating 1st and 8th place. This is far from over, and everything is still up for grabs going into the penultimate stage of this race, which arguably ends with a tougher climb than today's.
Sorry for no exported results, I have no idea why I wasn't able to export. Luckily I was able to export the coming 3 stages, meaning this one is the only one that will have screenshots showing the results.
