Tadej Pogacar sneaks into yellow jersey at Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard follows fierce attack on Stage 2
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Updated 01/07/2024 at 08:41 GMT
Despite all the doubts swirling around Jonas Vingegaard, the two-time defending champion was the only rider capable of responding to the first attack from Tadej Pogacar at the 2024 Tour de France. Pogacar takes yellow, albeit somewhat reluctantly, while Remco Evenepoel hinted at a yellow jersey party for three after staging a superb recovery to finish level with the Slovenian and the Dane.
Stage 2 Highlights – Pogacar takes yellow as Vauquelin wins on day of fireworks
Kevin Vauquelin - take a bow. Only two days have passed and it's already two wins for the host nation in Italy as French riders continue to take the 111th edition of the Tour de France by the scruff of its neck. And yet, it was Tadej Pogacar who stole the show after almost reluctantly coasting into the yellow jersey in Bologna.
Twenty-four hours after French veteran Romain Bardet took the opening yellow jersey with victory in Rimini, his compatriot Vauquelin secured Arkea-B&B Hotels its first ever win in the world’s biggest bike race after an expert showing from the breakaway.
On just the second day of his own Tour career, 23-year-old Vauquelin got the better of his fellow nine escapees with a masterly display on the double ascent of the brutal climb to San Luca in Bologna. Vauquelin soloed home to secure the second French stage win on the bounce ahead of Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), who shored up his lead in the polka dot jersey standings while stealing a march in the green for good measure.
All eyes, however, were quickly on a pulsating battle behind after defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and his big rival Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) came to the finish together after going at it hammer and tongs as sparks flew on the second ascent of the final climb.
Denmark’s Vingegaard was the only rider capable of responding to Pogacar’s awesome acceleration near the top to dispel, emphatically, any doubts surrounding his form in the wake of his serious crash in April.
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'The only man who can follow!' - Vingegaard responds superbly to Pogacar attack
The two riders both vying to win a third Tour title before the other were joined by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) on the home straight after the Belgian debutant collaborated with the Ecuadorian pocket-rocket on the descent to close the gap.
It was Carapaz who blasted to the front to lead this select chase group home and take 10th place in the stage – although Pogacar wrested the yellow jersey from Bardet’s shoulders despite a spirited fightback from the Frenchman, who limited his losses after being dropped on the unforgiving double-digit ramp.
Pogacar, Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Carapaz are all locked together at the top of the standings on the same time – six seconds clear of Bardet, who dropped to fifth place in the general classification.
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'Bang in Bologna!' - Vauquelin wins Stage 2 from the breakaway
But there were telling losses for the likes of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe), Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), who all came home in the main field 21 seconds down on the Pogacar group. The losses were far bigger for Welsh veteran Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) who conceded over four minutes, while Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) had yet another horrific day in the saddle and now sits 45 minutes down in the standings.
An active start under the scorching sun of Emilia-Romagna saw multiple attacks from the outset with the man in polka dots, Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), among all the moves.
It was the Norwegian powerhouse whose acceleration finally caused a split and saw 11 riders go clear before the peloton collectively sat up and let them get on with the racing. Everyone except Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), that is, the Australian all-rounder zipping clear of the pack and joining forces with another rider in no-man’s land, the Belgian Brent van Moer (Lotto Dstny).
Despite a spirited effort as the riders headed up the coast towards Ravenna, the chasing duo were unable to close the gap and a strong headwind meant they soon sat up to join a peloton which trailed the breakaway by six minutes.
Joining Abrahamsen in the breakaway was that man Vauquelin and his Arkea-B&B Hotels team-mate Cristian Rodriguez, Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Mike Teunissen (Intermarche-Wanty), Bram Welten (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).
The gap rose to around nine minutes ahead of the first of six climbs on the menu, where Dutchman Welten was first to be dropped. Welten would plummet from the front to the back of the race as he was called on to help nurse DSM’s sprinter Fabio Jakobsen for a second-day in succession after the Dutchman continued his troubled start to the race.
Abrahamsen took maximum points over the first two categorised climbs to cement his lead in the polka dot jersey standings. He then edged clear to deny Tejada the spoils in the intermediate sprint to move ahead in the green jersey standings, too.
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With the gap closing to six minutes, a crash in the peloton just ahead of the sprint saw Visma-Lease a Bike duo Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson hit the deck in a tangle with Belgium’s Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers). All riders were able to continue – and, indeed, the Visma duo soon returned to the front paving the way for their man Vingegaard at the business end of the stage.
Back with the break, Abrahamsen’s voraciousness continued as he took the next two climbs with ease. And just when it looked like the Norwegian’s day was over, he fought back after Laurance upped the ante on the first of two ascents of the 10.6% climb to San Luca to make it five from five over the summit.
After fragmenting on the first ascent, the 10 breakaway riders reformed on the descent before an attack by Portugal’s Oliveira coaxed a reply from Vauquelin and the indefatigable Abrahamsen.
The trio established a lead of 35 seconds ahead of the final climb when Vauquelin showed his class by riding clear through a sea of chanting spectators as the road ramped up alongside the 666 arches of the spellbinding sandstone portico that zigzags up the side of the hill to the San Luca Basilica.
Abrahamsen dug deep behind but the elastic finally snapped. Although he was caught by five of the other escapees after the summit, the Norwegian kicked clear on the home straight to secure second place behind stage winner Vauquelin. Runner-up on the similarly steep Mur de Huy in this year's Fleche Wallonne, Vauquelin was in retrospect the obvious candidate for the victory, but still delivered with panache.
Abrahamsen's second place meant he took over the green jersey as well as the polka dot jersey ahead of stage three – the Norwegian leading Vauquelin by seven points. He win don green on Monday, with France's Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) in polka dots and Evenepoel the new man in white.
There was no movement on the first of two ascents in the GC group as Visma-Lease a Bike came to the front to control the tempo. But things blew apart for part two with Slovenia’s Roglic losing touch early on along with a cluster of big-name riders.
When Pogacar tested his legs it was the familiar sight of Vingegaard who latched on – the two best riders in Tour recent history locking horns once again. Despite only riding his second competitive day since early April, the Dane showed bravery and intent as he pushed things on the descent with Pogacar a more than capable partner in crime.
But Evenepoel led the chase with Carapaz behind, the duo catching up and even passing their rivals in a thrilling finale in the centre of Bologna. Despite Pogacar’s apparent eagerness to avoid taking the yellow jersey, the 25-year-old seized the maillot jaune because of his superior placing on Saturday’s opening stage.
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Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel finish together after Stage 2 tear-up
Just 36 days after he rode into Rome with the pink jersey on his back, Pogacar will ride into Turin in yellow on Monday for a 230.8km Stage 3 that should end in the race’s first bunch sprint.
But with so many sprinters feeling the pinch after two beastly days of climbing in intense heat, it remains to be seen what kind of sprint that will be.
Could Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) battle for a record-breaking 35th win or will Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) build on the four wins he picked up last year? Given the run so far, a victory for French sprinters Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) or Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) cannot be ruled out.
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