photo credit @ Twitter
Bryan Coquard (Europcar) claimed stage 2 of this year’s Route du Sud, jumping away from his rivals in the waning moments of the stage, to deny late attacker Quentin Jauregui (AG2R La Mondiale) the victory.
Meanwhile, Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) rounded out the podium in third place.
Race Highlights
Today’s 141 kilometer stage from Auch to Saint-Gaudens featured a five man breakaway group containing Samuel Magalhães (Radio Populat-Boavista), Mads Pedersen (Cult Energy), Yoann Paillot (Marseille 13 KTM), Eneko Lizarralde (Murias) and Camilo Castiblanco (Colombia), that endured until the final finishing circuits in Saint-Gaudens.
Indeed, with 25 kilometers to go, their time out front came to a close, as the group began to disintegrate and scatter along the route.
Shortly thereafter, Christophe Juul Jensen (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Oliver Le Gac (FDJ), were the next riders to attack from within the peloton – later bridging their way to Lizarralde.
From there, the quartet made their way across to Paillot and Pedersen during the final 12 kilometers.
However, back in the peloton, Europcar was pushing the pace hard, subsequently bringing the gap down to just 30 seconds with 10 kilometers remaining.
With 4km to go, the gap had fallen to a mere 17 seconds, while Juul Jensen continued to push the pace into the final kilometer.
Lizarralde became the first rider to fall off pace with his breakaway companions, which only served to disrupt their organization.
With the peloton bearing down on them, Paillot decided to attack, only to have Le Gac counter his move.
With 300 meter to go, the Le Gac put in a desperate move, only to have Jauregui emerge from the chase and pass him.
With the finish line in sight, Europcar took on a blistering pace, subsequently launching Coquard during the final 40 meters, to nix Jauregui’s chances for the win.
The French rider was so angry over his loss, he was seen pounding his handlebars in frustration.
Stage 2 Results FRA 1 COQUARD, Bryan (EUROPCAR) 3:23:25 FRA 2 JAUREGUI, Quentin (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 3 FONSECA, Armindo (BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) FRA 4 HARDY, Romain (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) FRA 5 MANZIN, Lorenzo (FDJ) DEN 6 HANSEN, Lasse Norman (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) FRA 7 MOLARD, Rudy (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) COL 8 RUBIANO CHAVEZ, Miguel Angel (COLOMBIA) ESP 9 SANZ, Enrique (MOVISTAR) DEN 10 SVENDGAARD, Michael Carbel (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) FRA 11 TULIK, Angelo (EUROPCAR) FRA 12 TRONET, Steven (AUBER 93) FRA 13 PACHER, Quentin (EQUIPE CYCLISTE DE L’ARMEE DE TERRE) GER 14 GERDEMANN, Linus (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) COL 15 AVILA VANEGAS, Edwin Alcibiades (COLOMBIA) ESP 16 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF – SAXO) ESP 17 MADRAZO RUIZ, Angel (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) COL 18 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) FRA 19 LATOUR, Pierre-Roger (AG2R LA MONDIALE) FRA 20 BAGOT, Yohan (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS)
General Classification after Stage 2 FRA 1 TRONET, Steven (AUBER 93) 8:22:56 FRA 2 COQUARD, Bryan (EUROPCAR) + 3 FRA 3 HARDY, Romain (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 4 DEN 4 SVENDGAARD, Michael Carbel (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) + 6 FRA 5 FONSECA, Armindo (BRETAGNE-SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) + 9 FRA 6 MOLARD, Rudy (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 13 FRA 7 PACHER, Quentin (EQUIPE CYCLISTE DE L’ARMEE DE TERRE) GER 8 GERDEMANN, Linus (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) DEN 9 HANSEN, Lasse Norman (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) COL 10 AVILA VANEGAS, Edwin Alcibiades (COLOMBIA)
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