Coppi e Bartali: Paul Double launches solo attack on final climb to win stage 2 and grab GC lead

Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla) won stage 2 of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi & Bartali, just holding off the chasers on the hilly finishing circuit up to Sogliano sul Rubicone, in the hills between Rimini and San Marino.

Double caught and dropped Lennart Jasch (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies) on the climb to the line but finished just a few bike lengths ahead of Jarno Widar (Lotto Development Team). Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) was third with Britain's Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) fourth.

Thanks to the time bonuses, Double is the new race leader after stage 1 winner Caleb Ewan (Ineos Grenadiers) was distanced on the hilly circuit.

Double has impressed in hilly races at Human Powered Health and Polti Kometa in recent years but this was the Briton’s second professional career win and his first as a WorldTour rider in Team Jayco AlUla colours.

“The truth is I was actually a bit teary in the race because I am new to the WorldTour and was kind of doubting myself throughout the race and then I got myself motivated for the finale," Double said in a team statement.

"It was a nice finish and to be honest that's the way I like to win. The team were keeping me motivated all day and I think it's a hard race to ride well as a compact group, but I think we really did the best we could. It was nice everyone coming up to me after the finish line and giving me congrats, it means a lot.” 

The 163.9km stage was a hilly day in the saddle, with four climbs up to Sogliano sul Rubicone in the second half of the day.

The early attack was allowed to open a four-minute gap but Ineos Grenadiers kept them under control. UAE Team Emirates-XRG then took over and closed down the early attack as Ewan suffered for the first time on the climbs.

Other attacks came on the second Sogliano sul Rubicone climb, with Walter Calzoni (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) joining Leander Van Hautegem (Wagner Bazin WB) off the front but they were also chased down. Kim Heiduk (Ineos Grenadiers), Pascal Eenkhoorn and Thomas Pesenti (both Soudal-QuickStep), Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirate-XRG) then attacked with 32km to go but they were also pulled back.

Jasch launched his attack after the penultimate climb of Sogliano sul Rubicone and was allowed to gain a 30-second lead at one point. However the WorldTour teams were not willing to offer any gifts and chased hard.

Double went early on his own at the foot of the climb to the finish but had the speed to soon catch Jasch and then suffered all the way to the line. He looked back and could see the chasers but managed to hit the finish line first.

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