The 2nd stage is 188 kilometers and classified as a flat stage for the sprinters. Sinner Santos Kip
are favourites for the stage win according to the bookmakers. Contrary to yesterday’s opening prologue, we’ve absolutely dreadful weather today. Only 9 degrees and rain awaits the riders. The weather conditions might favour the brave attackers, who could snatch the stage win, either from the breakaway or with a late attack on the small hills close to the finish line.
After a downhill start to the stage, we’ve 4 riders attacking when the road starts to rise. It’s Jungels Van Den Eynde Baez Jeandesbosz
They’re allowed to ride away, and they quickly get a gap of 2 minutes back to the peloton.
With 172 kilometers left of the stage, Viennet Beyer
attack and bridges the gap to the 4 riders in the breakaway, meaning we’ve got 6 riders up front, battling the horrible weather here in Portugal.
Seeing Viennet and Beyer being successful, Kamyshev Willems Martin
also go clear of the peloton, and they quickly catch the 6 riders in front, meaning we’ve got 9 riders up front with 166 kilometers left of the stage. Though, the peloton isn’t too happy about the latest attacks, and they’re chasing only 1 minute behind.
Passeron
attacks from the peloton 11 kilometers later, and his attack is so silent we almost missed him! But he joins the breakaway, giving Rothaus 2 riders in the group. They’ve been able to extend their gap a bit, it’s now 1’45 down to the peloton.
Puma & Bol
don’t like seeing Rothaus with the numbers up front, and Bol attacks a short moment later.
Bol
joins the breakaway only 5 kilometers later, they’re still building on their lead. It’s now more than 3 minutes down to the peloton, and it looks like they’ve been allowed to ride away.
Back in the peloton, it’s Cerne Pirelli Venchi
who take the responsibility for the chase, but with 130 kilometers to go of the stage, they’re still relaxed. The gap is up to 6’15.
The first intermediate sprint of the race is contested by everyone in the breakaway. It’s Baez
who takes the 6 points and bonus seconds, ahead of Jungels Viennet
The breakaway takes on the major difficulty of the day with 111 kilometers left. It’s Bol
who leads them, and their gap is now 8 minutes, which is the biggest gap they’ve had so far.
Quite surprisingly there’s no attacks for the mountain points, meaning Beyer
rolls over first, which means he will wear the polkadot tomorrow. The peloton is still loosing ground to the peloton, and with 100 kilometers left, the gap is 10 minutes, meaning we might see a touch and go between the peloton and the breakaway today.
The descent turns out to be dangerous in the rain, and Dumoulin Ortega
hits the asphalt. Dumoulin struggles the most, as he’s the very last rider on the road now, while Ortega is in the group in front of him, where also pre-stage favourite Kip
is. Kip’s group is chasing 2’30 behind the peloton, which has pushed the pace, as the gap is down to 8’20 with 92 kilometers left.
Soler
is the next rider to taste asphalt. It’s dangerous out there today, hopefully we won’t have a big crash in the sprint, that could cause major problems for the peloton.
Another pre-stage favourite goes down. This time it’s Marinangeli
who gambles a bit too much on a descent. He’s able to join Kip’s
group, which is still 2 minutes behind the peloton, but Kip has most of his team with him, meaning they should have a chance of pulling themselves back to the peloton.
64 kilometers to go, and California controls the breakaway well for their sprinter Sinner. They’re now 6 minutes behind, with Marinangeli Kip Soler Ortega’s
group being 1’45 behind the peloton.
It’s a job well done by Kip’s
team mates with 61 kilometers to go, as they rejoin the peloton. Though, Soler
somehow got dropped from the group, meaning he’s probably hurt.
We approach a rolling terrain with 30 kilometers to go, and it will be small hills all the way to the finish line from now. The breakaway is still going strong, their lead is just above 3 minutes, meaning the peloton will need to speed it up if they’re going to catch the 11 attackers.
Jeannesson
leads the peloton with 20 kilometers left of the stage, and it’s really stretched now, as California put the hammer down on the unclassified climb they just finished. 93 riders are still in the peloton, with Kip
once again dropped.
10 kilometers to go, and the breakaway is doing brilliant! They’ve extended their lead to 3 minutes, and it looks like the stage win will be between the 11 riders that tried their luck early on the stage.
The peloton has resigned, but that doesn’t stop Costa
from a desperate attack to save his yellow jersey. He attacks with 7 kilometers left, being 3’30 behind the breakaway. He’s followed by Dieteren Larsson
Larsson and Costa might look to gain valuable seconds to their overall competitors. But they shouldn’t be allowed to ride away, and California quickly organizes a chase behind.
2.6 kilometers away from the line, the sprint for the stage win opens. It’s Martin
who leads out, with Passeron Baez Bol Kamyshev Beyer Jeandesbosz Willems Van Den Eynde Jungels Viennet
following behind. This will be all about who has most left, after a long day in the breakaway. One of them are going to take the biggest win of their career.
Bol Beyer
make their move with 1300 meters left, it looks perfectly timed, and they’re storming for the line!
With 700 meters to the line, Willems
challenges down the right, looking to pass the two riders on the left in the very last moment.
And there it is, a win for Cyclevox! Beyer
was superb in the sprint, and he takes a huge win for him and his team. Bol Willems
follows in 2nd and 3rd, they were simply not strong enough to challenge Beyer today.
Passeron
follows his team mate with a 4th place, ahead of Baez Martin
Back to Costa!
He’s holding a 20 seconds gap to Larsson Dieteren
with only 900 meters left. The peloton is led by Marinangeli
only 20 seconds behind the duo behind Costa.
And it’s definitely a gap for Costa
when he crosses the line. How much will he be rewarded with?
Larsson
crosses the line in 13th, but it’s doubtful he’ll get a gap of the timekeepers, as his sprint wasn’t good enough to keep up with Costa
Dieteren
follows behind in 14th, before Marinangeli leads home the peloton in 15th.
Ortega Dumoulin Grigrian
are dead last on today’s stage, more than 15 minutes behind stage winner Beyes.
