Marijn van den Berg of EF Education-EasyPost in Yellow leader jersey fights to catch surge from Benoit Cosnefroy of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team on final circuit(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Marijn van den Berg of EF Education EasyPost attacks in the lead group(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Race leader Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) rides in the Yellow leader jersey on 162.1km stage 2(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton prior to the start of stage 2 from Châteaubriant(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Marijn van den Berg reveals the leader's jersey as EF Education-EasyPost is introduced before stage 2(Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) took a solo win on stage 2 of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour with an urgent attack across the final kilometre which could not be matched.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) led the large chase group of 34 riders for second place eight seconds back, while Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) took third.
Bonus seconds at the line put Costiou in the race leader’s jersey, now seven seconds behind stage 1 winner Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), who was in the main chase group and crossed the line in 27th. Kristian Sbaragli (Team Corratec-Vini Fantini) moved into third overall with bonus points from the breakaway, bumping Jon Aberasturi (Euskatel-Euskadi) down to fourth by one second.
The 190.9km stage between Ezpeleta and Altsasu saw three riders at the front of the race on the first half of the second day of racing - Sbaraglia, Matisse Julien (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Joes Oosterlinck (Bingoal WB Devo Team).
The trio scooped up the intermediate sprint and mountain classification points, but were not a threat to Van den Berg’s overall lead so had a long leash. Once across the third KOM of the day, Route du Chemin de l’étang de Cunault, with under 50km to race, the peloton began to pull back the long leash.
With 32km to go, the riders began the first of four finishing circuits in Saumur, and the leading trio’s gap faded to under one minute, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale doing the majority of work at the front of the chase.
Just before the final circuit, the breakaway was back in the peloton, and Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) attacked, with eight other riders surging to his back wheel, including race leader Van den Berg.
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After the bell rang with under 8km to go, Cosnefroy attacked a second time on the short climb of Haut rue Chèvre (average 12.2%). This time a smaller group formed with Van den Berg, Alexandre Delettre (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis). More riders joined the fray once over the final climb of Haut rue Chèvre, and it looked like a large bunch sprint would follow.
The 21-year-old Costiou launched his winning move just beyond the red kite for 1km to go and left no doubt for his first win of the season.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
