Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) hits the line first (Image credit: Getty Images)
Heavy downpours were a major feature of stage 2 at the Tour of Guangxi on Wednesday, soaking the 145.2km stage from Beihai to Qinzhou with warm precipitation as the peloton covered the sprint stage in just over three hours.
The conditions convinced Richie Porte to call an end to his season and his tenure at BMC Racing in the early going before Pascal Ackerman (Bora-Hansgrohe) took the final bunch kick ahead of Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Floors) and stage 1 winner Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo), who continues to lead the overall race.
A breakaway of five riders ventured out into the weather as Yousif Mirza (UAE Team Emirates), Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin), Andrey Grivko (Astana), Rémi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) and Chun Kai Feng (Bahrain-Merida) went up the road and built an ultimate gap of 2:20. The sprint-hungry peloton kept the leash close from there, with LottoNL-Jumbo and Bora-Hansgrohe once again taking control of the chase.
Dowsett and Cavagna dropped the others with 20km to go, and then Dowsett lost the pace another 10km later, leaving Cavagna to go on alone before he, too, was captured with 4km remaining. The sprint took off from there, with LottoNL-Jumbo and Bora-Hansgrohe competing for control on the wide roads in Qinzhou.
