The early breakaway survived to score victory on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse, with Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) triumphing ahead of Marcel Camprubí (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike) from a six-man sprint in Locarno.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was bearing down behind, having launched from the peloton on the steep closing climb of the day, 9km from the line. However, there would be no back-to-back wins for the Slovenian, who took Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) with him in the move.
A 30-second gap was too much to close over the final kilometres of the race, and instead the sextet of survivors from the early 14-man move contested the stage among themselves.
After 120km in the front of the race, it was Grégoire who led the way around the final corner and launched the sprint with 200 metres to go. He had no equal in the final burst for the line, with Lemmen following in his wheel.
Lemmen faded in the final metres as Grégoire celebrated his 14th career victory and second in two years at the Tour de Suisse, while Camprubí came through to nab second place ahead of the Dutchman.
Four seconds later, Pogačar crossed the line with his attacking companion Vacek, the pair taking eighth and sixth, having bridged across to the breakaway riders just a touch too late.
"It was a really hard day. We managed really well with the team in the breakaway, and we are really happy with this victory," Grégoire said after the stage.
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"We couldn't do anything [about the chasers]. We just went full gas, we couldn't accelerate, so we just had to wait and wish he won't be able to come back. Finally, it was close, but we did it.
"It's a race I like a lot. The profiles are really good for me. it's a time of the year where I have good legs, so it's good."
The stage result – eighth place, Pogačar's worst result of the season in 13 race days – means he extends his overall lead, despite missing out on his second win in as many days.
Having led overnight by 2:22 from Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), he extended his lead by 28 seconds in Locarno, with the remainder of the GC hopefuls crossing the line 32 seconds down.
Pogačar's new lead lies at 2:50 to Carapaz, while Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) is in third place at 3:07 down.
How it unfolded
The second stage of the Tour de Suisse started and ended in Locarno, with 157.7km and three classified climbs lying along the route. The day began with an ascent of Monte Ceneri (5.3km at 6.3%) with a large flat section in the middle and then two more climbs – Fanghi (3.5km at 7%) and Orselina (1.4km at 8.9%) – lying inside the final 20km.
Several attacks flew before Monte Ceneri, including from Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), Orluis Aular (Movistar), and Paul Lapeira (Groupama-FDJ United). That didn't go clear, however, and so another group including Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep), Enric Mas (Movistar), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) went on the climb.
After 30km of racing, things were all together again as the break was caught, though soon afterwards another move went with 14 riders getting away.
Giro d'Italia pink jersey wearer Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) was up there, as were a host of other notable names, including Filippo Zana (Soudal-QuickStep), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor).
The breakaway riders raced out to a three minute lead during the middle of the stage as the team of race leader Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, controlled the peloton with EF Education-EasyPost and Lidl-Trek lined up behind them.
The breakaway on stage 2 (Image credit: Getty Images)
At 50km to go, the break's lead stood at 2:30 and remained largely the same over the next 20km. The speed was high all day as the riders raced along at 47kph, the stage on track for being one of the quickest in Tour de Suisse history.
Netcompany-Ineos, Jayco-AlUla, and Decathlon-CMA CGM moved to the front of the peloton as the first of the closing climbs, Fanghi, loomed. Meanwhile, the break hit the hill with a lead of 2:10.
Zana pushed the pace from the break on the early slopes as Alaphilippe followed, and riders behind dropped, and UAE retook control of the peloton. Brandon McNulty's efforts saw the gap swiftly drop to 1:30.
By the top of the climb, 13.5km from the line, 14 breakaway riders had been reduced to just five as Zana, Eulálio, and Lemmen were joined by Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Finlay Pickering (Jayco-AlUla). Behind, Pogačar moved to the front on the descent as the gap to the break closed to under a minute.
Tadej Pogačar (Image credit: Getty Images)
The breakaway survivors battled on up the steep slopes of Orselina, but behind them, Pogačar and his teammate Jhonatan Narváez launched from the peloton with Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) in tow. At the top, 8km from the finish, the gap lay at 30 seconds, seemingly too much for the chasers to make up.
Pogačar and Vacek caught Eulálio on the way down, while Grégoire and Marcel Camprubí (Pinarello-Q36.5) joined up with the leaders. The six-man leading group then pushed on into Locarno, where they would do battle in the fight for the line after 120km at the head of the race.
The chasers edged closer and closer to the break, but it was too little, too late for Pogačar and Vacek, who could only watch as Grégoire celebrated up ahead.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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