Stage 2 of the Tour of Japan takes the riders on 126km jaunt in Mino, while a flat stage the stage includes 7 ascents of the same climb, the last one peaking just 2.5 km before the end of the race. The 3rd and 5th ascents feature mountain primes. There are also 3 sprint points.
Last year ISA-Hexacta’s Contreras won the sprint at the end of this stage, he isn’t here again but last year’s second place, Boivin, is here. He features on the favorites list, which looks like this:
The peloton rolls out at at a leisurely pace on a bright day here in Japan.
5km to the first summit and we have our first attackers.
The riders are Lafay, Hussein and Mottin.
A short while later Cepeda heads out after them, he might be taking advantage of that motorbike.
Part way up the climb Cepeda is joined by Vila. They are 54 seconds behind the 3 leaders and 1’10 ahead of the peloton.
Given that the GC differences are tiny after the prologue and that the stage represents a chance for the sprinters there is not much interest in the breakaway today. These 5 are it. With 115 km to go they are all together and have 3’20 on the peloton. None of them is more than 10 seconds off the race lead, so expect a short leash.
Indeed, as the 5 riders complete the 2nd ascent (no KOM points) their lead is down to 2’19 and the peloton is visible.
At the first the sprint point Nordica get first and third with Vila and Lafay. Cepeda sandwiched in between.
When the break starts the 3rd ascent (first KOM) their lead is 2’18 after going up to as high as 2’45. The climb is about 2.5km mostly at a steady 4-5%. Nothing dramatic but enough to potentially cause problems on the last lap.
Lafay leads most of the way up the climb and then with 700 meters to go his teammate launches.
The strategy works and Vila takes it. Lafay holds of for 2nd ahead of Hussein.
The riders complete the 4th ascent without much change, the lead sticking between 2 and 3 minutes, generally closer to 2. The sprinters’ teams doing the work.
At the 2nd sprint point the Nordica boys continue to dominate the jersey primes.
This time the order is Vila, Lafay and Cepeda.
At the 5th ascent and 2nd KOM, Nordica tries the same tactic but Lafay can’t keep the pace and with 500 meters to go it is wide open for the points.
But Vila is still the strongest, he takes it ahead of Cepeda and Hussein. He will wear the KOM jersey tomorrow.
The peloton crosses 1’48 later, led by Bonnin, they have 41km to go. At this point it is the GC teams working. The yellow jersey is riding in the middle of the pack.
30km to go and the lead is down to 1’01. Swisslion doing a lot of work which is odd since they have a man in the break and don’t have a sprinter or one of the very top GC riders.
As they complete the ascent for the 6th time it is over for 2 of the 5 breakaway riders. Vila and Cepeda have about 20 seconds and Hussein is fighting to keep his small gap. No riders have been dropped from the peloton. 22km to go.
The 3 breakaway riders survive to take the last sprint points: Cepeda, then Vila and Hussein.
With 14 km to go Guave’s Le Gac brings the the last breakaway rider back into the fold. The sprint teams are in control but we still have one more ascent to go.
Natarov has become the first rider dropped.
3.5 km to go including 1km of climbing. Kemboi is maybe a little far back. Adastra have 3 riders up front with Drapac then all 3 of Guave’s sprinters are in the next foursome. Ackermann is to their left and Tivani and Lovassy are just behind them. Young is near Kemboi. But Boivin is much further back and out of the picture.
Adastra does a great job controlling the pace for Drapac as they crest the top. The only problem is Aasvold and Higuita are hardly the ideal lead out. Behind them Guave have their 3 train nicely lined up: Barbier, Yamamoto and then Coutinho. Ackermann is well placed between the two trains. Tivani and Lovassy are still just behind the Guave boys. A little further back and out of picture to the left Guerreiro is dragging Kemboi back to the front and Boivin has found Kemboi’s wheel.
2.2 km to go for Kemboi and he still has a lot of work to do. It is mostly downhill to the finish and trains up front are flying. Boivin has lost positions again and is well out of it, Young is also in trouble.
They are just about to reach the 1k banner. From the top of the picture - Yamamoto has hit the front with his leader still glued to his wheel. Drapac still has Higuita but is paying the price for his slower leadout. Ackermann will need to get out from behind the fading Aasvold. Lovassy and Tivani have Coutinho’s wheel. Behind this group is Barbier then Panayotov, Gallopin, Eliad and Kemboi. Behind them mostly GC riders.
700 meters to go, the order is: Yamamoto, Coutinho, Lovassy, Tivani, Drapac, Ackermann and Kemboi. Yamamoto’s lead out has them all struggling to hold the wheels, can Coutinho finish what would be a text book leadout?
400 meters, Coutinho is on the front, Lovassy is the biggest thread. Order among the rest unchanged.
200 meters, Coutinho still has it but he is moving the slowest among all of them. Kemboi is at 82 km but his positioning means he is fighting for minor placings. Young has fought his way back and is leading the sprint outside these 7.
And Coutinho hangs on to win the sort of sprint his manager dreamed of when he put together the team.
Lovassy takes second. Tivani third, Drapac fourth and Ackermann shades Kemboi for 5th. Kemboi may have suffered from Farfetch’s split goals in this race.
Young, Schreurs, Yamamoto and Gallopin round out the top 10.
The GC riders all finish safely in the next 20 or so and there are not time gaps.
In the GC we have a somewhat surprising new leader in Vila. Had pretty much any other rider won the stage the win time bonus would have put them in yellow, but Coutinho finished second to last in the prologue, losing 17 seconds, while Vila benefits from 16 seconds of sprint bonuses. Azteca have GC 2nd and 3rd with breakaway man Cepeda and stage 3rd place Tivani. Stage 2nd place Lovassy finished last in the prologue so he is only 81st on GC.
The points lead stays with the Stage 1 winner, Gonzalez Salas. Vila also takes both the KOM and young rider jerseys. But those will be worn by Tivani and Hussein on his behalf. The team jersey remains with Repsol.
Tour of Japan 
