Adam Yates remains the leader after the second stage
MADRID, 2 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French cyclist Victor Lafay (Cofidis) has prevailed this Sunday in the second stage of the 110th edition of the Tour de France, 208.9 kilometers between Vitoria-Gasteiz and San Sebastián, while the British Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) He retains the yellow jersey of the leader of the gala round.
Lafay, 27, beat Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the last kilometer, for whom his team organized a favorable reduced sprint, and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to claim his second victory in a great return, after the one achieved in the 2021 Giro d’Italia, and breaking a 15-year drought without winning in the ‘Grande Boucle’ of the Cofidis team.
Meanwhile, the champion of the Tour in 2020 and 2021, with his third place this Sunday, added 12 bonus points that allow him to rise to second place in the provisional general classification, just six behind the leader Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), who retained the yellow when entering with the peloton. 17 seconds behind the British is the defending champion, the Danish Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
Neither the Spanish Enric Mas (Movistar) nor the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), victims of a hard fall in the descent of the Vivero in the inaugural stage, started in Vitoria, in what will be the last fully disputed stage in Basque lands.
At kilometer 8, Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies), American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Frenchman Rémi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step) cleared the pack. The income was more than four minutes passing through Legutio’s intermediate sprint, through which the Scandinavian passed in first position, and almost five at kilometer 68.
From that moment on, and with the passing of the Udana, Atziria and Alkiza passes, where Cavagna was left off the hook, the distance began to decrease, thanks in part to the work of UAE Team Emirates at the head of the peloton. On the Gurutze climb, where Vingegaard punctured but was able to rejoin the group safely, Powless was left alone after Boasson Hagen gave ground.
With Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates taking the lead on the decisive climb to Jaizkibel, Poland’s Rafal Majka (UAE Team Emirates) caught Powless with 19km to go as leader Adam Yates bowled over Pogacar. The Spanish Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) tried to escape, but the peloton neutralized his attempt. It was in the last kilometer when Lafay managed to surprise the Jumbo-Visma, which was trying to force a reduced sprint, and enter the finish line first.
The gala round will continue this Monday with the dispute of the third stage, eminently flat and conducive to sprinters and with which the runners will enter French territory through the department of Pyrenees-Atlantiques; 193.5 kilometers will be covered between Amorebieta-Etxano and Bayona with four mountain passes -two of the third category and two of the fourth- and an intermediate sprint.
–CLASSIFICATIONS.
-Stage.
1. Victor Lafay (FRA/Cofidis) 4:46:39.
2. Wout van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma) mt
3. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Emirates) mt
4. Thomas Pidcock (GBR/INEOS Grenadiers) m.t.
5. PELLO BILBAO (ESP/Bahrain Victorious) m.t.
-General.
1. Adam Yates (GBR/UAE Emirates) 9:09:18.
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO/UAE Emirates)
3. Simon Yates (GBR/Jayco AlUla) m.t.
4. Victor Lafay (FRA/Cofidis) 12.
5. Wout van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma) 16.
…//…
6. Jonas Vingegaard (DIN/Jumbo-Visma) 17.
2023-07-02 15:38:59
#Victor #Lafay #surprises #Van #Aert #Pogacar #San #Sebastián
