Viviani wins stage 2 at Route du Sud

Elia Viviani (Team Sky) won stage 2 of the Route du Sud after he beat Carlos Barbero (Movistar) and Lorrenzo Manzin (FDJ) in a bunch finish in Saramon. Julien Loubet (Armée de Terre) finished safely in the main peloton to retain his overall lead.

Australian national champion Miles Scotson (BMC) almost upset the sprinters with a fine solo effort in the finale of the stage. Scotson was initially part of the day’s early break of three riders with David Menut (HP BTP-Auber 93) and Pello Olaberria (Euskadi-Murias), a move which built a maximum lead of 6:50 before Armée de Terre and Fortuneo-Vital Concept began to peg them back.

When the gap dropped towards two minutes with 30 kilometres to go, Scotson decided to try his luck alone, and he showcased his qualities as a rouleur by maintaining a lead of 1:10 into the final 10 kilometres even after the sprinters’ teams had begun to wind up the pace behind in earnest.

The fast men were ultimately not to be denied, despite Scotson’s best efforts, and he was swept up with three kilometres to go on the seemingly interminable, rising false flat that led to the finish.

Once Scotson was recaptured, his BMC team came to the front to set up the sprint for Jean-Pierre Drucker, while Ian Stannard was among those on hand to marshal Viviani through the finale.

Viviani had the nous to drop allow Barbero through rather than open his own sprint too early, and he produced a perfectly-timed effort to claim the win, ahead of Barbero, Manzin and Drucker.

Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) seemed to begin his sprint from too far back and was never in contention, eventually placing fifth on the stage.

“It was a good day,” Viviani told Directvelo.fr. “The team controlled the race from the opening kilometres. I was a bit worried when the gap rose to 6 minutes because it’s a lot but Gianni Moscon and Geraint Thomas did a lot of work in the final to keep me in position.”

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