Arctic Race of Norway: Coquard wins stage 2

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Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels) won stage 2 of the Arctic Race of Norway, beating overall leader Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) into second place in a bunch finish in Svolvær.

Mindful of the headwind in the finishing straight, Coquard parked himself on the wheel of Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) ahead of the final corner and allowed his fellow countryman to open his effort from distance before careering past him in the final 100 metres.

Van der Poel, such an impressive winner of Thursday's opening stage, tried gamely to get back on terms, but the Dutchman was unable to overhaul Coquard, who claimed his eighth victory of the season. Laporte held on for third ahead of August Jensen (Israel Cycling Academy), while Louis Bendixen (Team Coop) took fifth.

"For the finale, we had only Kevin Reza and Jeremy Lecroq, but Kevin is amazing for the lead-out. He put me on the wheel of Christophe Laporte, and I opened my sprint after the last corner," said Coquard.

"Mathieu van der Poel is very, very strong but today, I was sure that if I was in a good position, then it was going to be possible to win and to beat Van der Poel."

Thanks to the six-second time bonus he picked up for placing second on the stage, Van der Poel extends his overall lead to nine seconds over Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team). Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Norwegian Development Team) moves up to third overall, also at nine seconds, while Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) is a further two seconds back in fourth.

How it unfolded

After the carnage of Thursday's opening stage, when a group of 33 riders forged clear following a viciously fast opening two hours, there was a rather more structured feel to stage 2 of the Arctic Race of Norway.

The day's early break forged clear without undue fuss in the opening 10 kilometres, when a group of four Norwegian riders established a gap over the peloton. Tobias Mørch Kongstad (Riwal Readynez Cycling Team), Erik Resell (Uno-X Norwegian Development Team), Håkon Lunder Alrust (Team Coop) and Henrik Evensen (Joker Fuel of Norway) were granted their freedom, and they built up a maximum lead of 3:30, while the sprinters' teams – eventually – struck up a working alliance behind.

"It was a very tactical today, we had a little poker between different teams," Coquard said. "We had only Patrick Müller working the first part of the stage. It was very difficult for Patrick, but I'm very happy to have won the stage."

The break's advantage gradually dropped in the final 50km, and when their advantage fell to 30 seconds with 15km remaining, Alrust and Ressell clipped away from their erstwhile companions.

Ressell would in turn rid himself of Alrust but despite his determined laid solo effort, he was swept up by the peloton just shy of the intermediate sprint with 5km to go. Van der Poel's Corendon-Circus team, and Stijn Devolder in particular, had been prominent in leading the peloton to that point, but instead the bonus seconds were snaffled by Ressell's Uno-X teammate Hoelgaard, who continued his effort to open a small gap over the peloton.

Cofidis took up the reins in the run-in, and their pursuit ensured that Hoelgaard was caught with 2km to go. The stage was set for a bunch sprint, though it would take place without the unfortunate Danny van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma), who was forced off the road ahead of the finish. The Dutchman managed to stay upright as he rode onto a grass verge, but he endured the frustration of missing out on the chance to contest the win.

After missing the split on stage 1, Coquard was eager to make up for lost time here. His turn of speed was enough to defeat Van der Poel, who, in the absence of a lead-out man, had flitted from wheel to wheel in the finale.

The Arctic Race of Norway continues on Saturday with an uphill finish at Storheia summit.

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