The 153km stage from Oslo to Drammen should be another stage for the sprinters, as seen by the favorites. GC Leader Kennett still sits as 10th favorite for this stage, while Bouhanni comes in as the 3rd favorite. Bouhanni will likely be looking for bonus seconds in an effort to take over at the head of the race. Kennaugh will be looking for redemption after a rough start on stage 1.
Seconds after the start of the race and an attack is already gone! Bystrom, youth classification leader Lunder, Wohler, and Menicucci are all off the front, while the last of the peloton hasn’t even cross the start line yet.
That attack does not succeed as planned, with all but Bystrom, being brought back quickly. With only 20km until the first and only categorized climb of the day, Bystrom is clearly targeting KOM points and a takeover of the jersey from Le Gac, as they are on equal points.
With 5km to go before the KOM point and after a major flurry of attacks, McCarthy is now the sole leader, with all other caught by the peloton. It’s not a major lead by any stretch, so the points and the consistent breakaway are still up for grabs.
With 2km to go in the climb and it appears that the breakaway is stabilizing. McCarthy leads 2 chasers, teammate Wohler and Boassen Hagen by 42 seconds. The pack is 1’17 back of them, making McCarthy up by a total of 2 minutes.
McCarthy takes the points at the top of the KOM, with the two chasers clawing back and an attacking peloton still within sight. Wohler leads Boassen Hagen over for the final scoring places. With the scoring places gone, the impetus in the peloton drops immediately and the front breakaway comes together finally. It should be an interesting dynamics with two teammates and two official team leaders as McCarthy and Boassen Hagen have 82 and 81 hill respectively and could easily challenge in later stages.
With 100km to go, the gap between breakaway and peloton is stabilizing around 3:30. There’s no concerted effort at the front of the peloton at this point, with a number of teams adding one rider to the front of the field.
The first intermediate sprint of the day comes with 81km to go and none of the leaders have any intermediate points, however, they should be looking for those bonus seconds. The gap is slowing decreasing as the peloton realizes how dangerous this group could be. McCarthy opts not to sprint, but Wohler grabs the points ahead of Boassen Hagen in a very close battle. Leaders to peloton is now 2:55.
The front of the field is lead by the same suspects as stage 1: Voyagin-Bird, HelloFresh-Lampre, and Crabbe-CC Chevigny. Clearly Binance realized that they would not need to contribute at this point, even though they have the GC lead. Up in the breakaway, Amaysim Cervelo has decided that Wohler will not contribute to the breakaway, with the front rotating between McCarthy and Boassen Hagen. Let’s see how that decision plays out for the group up front. 50KM to go and the gap is 2:33.
The final intermediate sprint comes with 34km to go, as the field enters the finishing circuit which they will traverse a great many times. At the front, McCarthy is laboring but still pulling as they approach the sprint. The results here are the same as the first. Wohler first, Boassen Hagen second, and McCarthy dropped off the back for 3rd.
While he tries to return, the other two clearly decide to move on without him and the gap opens up to over 30seconds. 1:40 to the peloton. After just 9 km, McCarthy has been caught by the peloton and the gap overall is just 1 minute. Still just three teams contribute to the cause.
With 17km to go, the gap is just 48 seconds, but Boassen Hagen and Wohler refuse to give up. The peloton is still relatively bunched, but it will be a struggle for anyone near the back to move up to contest at this point. A number of sprinters are starting to show their faces at the front end of the race. Absent from them is our race leader, Kennett, who sits about 50 wheels back, but with 3 teammates nearby he should still be able to weave his way through the pack.
With 15km to go, Wohler decides that maybe he needs to do this alone and drops Boassen Hagen to a gap of 16 seconds. Remember Wohler did not contribute much to the break for the middle 50km and should be relatively fresh compared with his former breakaway companion. Wohler is extending his lead to the peloton at 0:55, but Boassen Hagen is falling back.
HelloFresh-Lampre is no longer helping at the front, so its just Crabbe-CC Chevigny and Voyagin-Bird with 4 riders each pushing the pace to become the race lead. The gap is at 45 seconds to Wohler with 11.7km to go.
Wohler drops under the 10km to go banner with the peloton close on his tails. Boassen Hagen is now caught and the gap is a short 0:32. You wouldn’t expect this to be enough for Wohler, but who knows how the peloton will play this with only two teams attempting a true leadout. Still further back than ideal. Kennett, has now found the wheel of Bouhanni in an attempt to keep the leader’s jersey. Reinhardt and Liu are the best positioned at this point, behind their combined leadout.
It was a valiant effort, but Wohler’s lead has evaporated. 7km to go and the whole group is back together and it should clearly be a sprinter’s win today. A very impressive day for Wohler still as he grabs 12 bonus seconds to benefit a potential GC run if he can survive the hilly days. From the sprinters, Houle has decided to slide into the leadout trains of Voyagin-Bird and Crabbe-CC Chevigny. Some GC favorites including Dennis, Dunbar, and Kämna are near the front still too, making sure they stay safe until the final 3km.
It’s a whole mess outside of the combined leadout still being run by Voyagin-Bird and Crabbe-CC Chevigny, with many important sprinters who will have to zig-zag through the peloton for a shot at the win. The race now departs the circuit for the tiniest uphill drag toward the finish line.
Voyagin-Bird begins to make their final leadout on the right hand side of the road, Liu in 3rd wheel, while Crabbe-CC Chevigny is leading out on the left, but with Reinhardt nowhere to be found. If the leftover Voygain-Bird domestiques delay the peloton a tiny bit and open up a gap to their primary lead-out, this could be a spectacular display from them.
The gap does not open up and Houle is leading another group of sprinters up the middle. It’s Houle, Enger, Coutinho, Page, and Riabushenko. Behind them, Kennett and Lander are searching for wheels, while on the left, Reinhardt has found teammate Tsatevich who might be able to help them squeeze out a good result after their train lost connection.
Voyagin-Bird launches with just Zhao remaining as the leadout with 2.4km. Houle has found Liu’s wheel, so that means it’s 5 sprinters in a line behind Zhao as the only leadout. Could Voyagin-Bird have launched too early again with Liu left to fade at the end?
Zhao is still managing to maintain the leadout with Liu, Houle, Enger, Coutinho, Page, and Riabushenko - who reattached after being gapped with 2.4km to go. Behind them, Tsatevich is eating major wind trying to bring Reinhardt to the front. Kennett, Lander and Kalaba are all alone as well, trying to bridge the gap to the front.
They go underneath the barrier and finally finishes his remarkable leadout. Liu hits the front with pace and Houle, starts to exit his slipstream for his own run at the finish. The rest of that line remains the same with Tsatevich on the opposite side starting to make real headway for Reinhardt. Lander leads the best of the rest, and could benefit from the long sprint of the front runners start to tire in the final meters.
Before they’ve even left the 1km banner, the race makeup has changed again. Enger has taken the lead with Coutinho, still on his wheel ready to strike. Coutinho could take the leader’s jersey with the win as they finished 3rd on stage 1. Liu is even with Coutinho but on the right side of the road and appears to be fading, Houle, still trying to separate from him. Page, and Riabushenko also sit nicely ready to launch from Coutinho. Tsatevich is still bringing up Reinhardt in what is an amazing turn of pace for the leadout man. Lander has also bridged the gap to the front and could take a major upset with a win.
Here, the race says there are 5 groups on the road, so there’s a possibility of time gaps due to the uphill sprint. Unlikely, but the sprinters have really taken a jump on their competitors and could get a surprise lead depending on how it shakes out.
The center of the straightaway has started to tie up and its Lander with the lead on the left side of the road! Reinhardt neck and neck with both likely to take the victory. Page is in 3rd place, with Enger and Coutinho still trying to grab bonus seconds. Riabushenko is a bit blocked, but appears to have the legs to come around and challenge if he can find space through the trio in front of him. Liu and Houle continue to fall back along Zhao who is still sprinting. Kalaba and Afewerki are also challenging with late runs down the left hand side. Kennett is the last of the front pack, but seems to be struggling and should have a difficult time finding a line even if he can get through.
With 300m to go, Lander sprints ferociously to the line, but here comes Kalaba alongside! ! Reinhardt is trying to stay in it too, and Afewerki still has a shot too if he can find the space. Page is the only sprinter remaining on the right hand side with a chance, but even Kennett is moving up on the left with potential for another strong result.
Kalaba comes around for the win! A fantastic victory for Minions-Subwoolfer! Lander looks to hold on for 2nd place with Afewerki sliding in for 3rd, unable to find a way around. Reinhardt and Kennett will take the remaining spots of the top 5. Page is best of the rest for 6th, with Enger, Coutinho, Riabushenko, and Zhao taking out the top 10.
Helping make sure that there aren’t time gaps, Kump takes 15th after a top ten the day before. Likewise for Bouhanni and Selig who must settle for 16th and 17th.
While Kump and others were able to make sure the 2nd group did not lose time, a gap did appear mid-way through the pack with almost 100 riders losing 1:28. While it does not appear to impact any of the top 3 favorites, others have lost time. Eg has fallen into that group, alongside our two top puncheurs who were in the breakaway - McCarthy and Boassen Hagen. Time Trial specialist Durbridge has also lost time, meaning that he won’t have as many teammates to test the course in front of him as he attempts to take stage 3.
Kennett still leads the competition, on same time as Kalaba. Both also share the lead of the points classification, so Kalaba will wear that jersey in the stage 3 time trial. Bystrom is now listed as the top finisher in the Mountain classification, even though neither he nor Le Gac scored on stage 2. Pogacar should now lead the Youth classification, but many others are tied on time so look for changes after the TT.
Tour of Norway – Stage 2 
