Tour du Limousin: Ewen Costiou takes the overall lead after a solo stage 2 victory

Ewen Costiou fooled the chasers on Wednesday, the Groupama-FDJ United rider soloing to victory in stage 2 of the Tour du Limousin.

Costiou was one of a group of nine which bridged to a final breakaway rider inside the final 10km of the stage, which finished in Lanouaille, attacking the group 2km later to take the win alone. Mattéo Vercher, one of three TotalEnergies riders in the group, took second place, 18 seconds back, with Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) leading the remainder home in third, a further eight seconds down.

Costiou, who won the race overall last year, moves into the overall lead after Tuesday’s stage winner, Noa Isidore (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished in a chasing group, 1:37 behind. The race continues with two more stages remaining.

Stage two of the four day race took the riders on a 184.2km route between Salignac-Eyvigues and Lanouaille. With more than 2,500m of vertical ascent, it was another rolling day, with four short, sharp climbs and winding roads sure to make for a tense final 25km.

Some early aggression soon produced a breakaway, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Kenny Molly (Van Rysel-Roubaix), Justin Coron (Veloce Club Rouen 76) and Baptiste Berger (Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais) and his teammate Axel Salvadori getting away and building an advantage which extended to more than five minutes.

That time began to drop as the race entered its second half, Groupama-FDJ United, Cofidis and the Decathlon CMA CGM squad of stage 1 winner Noa Isidore leading the peloton. Between them they took two minutes out of the leaders in the space of 30km.

Having attacked alone with 25km to go, Veistroffer was the last to be caught by a group of nine just inside the final 10km. A few moments later Costiou attacked that group, taking a lead of around 15 seconds into the final 3km.

Results

General classification after stage 2

For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.