Vauquelin triumphs in Bologna and Pogacar wears yellow

The French cyclist Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) has achieved victory in the second stage of the 111th edition of the Tour de France, 199.2 kilometers between the Italian towns of Cesenatico and Bologna, while the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) has already donned the yellow jersey.

After the triumph of his compatriot Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), the first leader of the edition, on the first day of the French round, Vauquelin emerged as the strongest of the ten runners who starred in the day’s breakaway, supported by his teammate and breakaway, the Spanish Cristian Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

The Frenchman sealed the race on the final climb to San Luca and crossed the finish line 36 seconds ahead of Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and 49 seconds ahead of the trio formed by Frenchman Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Rodríguez and Colombian Harold Tejada (Astana-Qazaqstan).

San Luca also saw the first duel of the edition between Pogacar and the reigning champion, the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), which ended in a draw, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) and Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) crossing the finish line alongside the last two winners of the ‘Grande Boucle’. The Slovenian thus snatched the yellow jersey from Bardet.

The escape of the day took only 8 kilometers to form, with Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar Team), Kévin Vauquelin, Cristian Rodriguez ( Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty), Bram Welten (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) as members.

At kilometre 66, the lead was already more than eight minutes over the peloton, controlled by Bardet’s Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. Abrahamsen was the first to crest the Côte de Monticino and the Côte de Gallisterna, while the bulk of the riders closed the gap. In Dozza, with the Norwegian also ahead, a crash involving Laurens de Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) weighed down the group, which saw the breakaway drop back to nine minutes at kilometre 129.

On the Côte de Montecalvo, the peloton increased the pace and began to put pressure, and the attacks began to follow one another on the first ascent of the Côte de San Luca. On the descent, Oliveira attacked and Vauquelin and Abrahamsen took to his wheel, and on the second and final climb the Frenchman changed pace to go alone to victory.

Behind, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) led the way for his leader, Pogacar, followed by Vingegaard, although both were caught at the end by Evenepoel and Carapaz. They still managed to beat the group that included fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Bardet by 21 seconds.

On Monday, the day before the high mountains arrive, the peloton will tackle the third stage, 230.8 kilometres long between the Italian towns of Piacenza and Turin. The predominantly flat stage will make things easier for the sprinters.