Tirreno-Adriatico: Julian Alaphilippe wins stage 2

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Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) made a perfectly-timed attack in the closing metres of the final climb to catch teammate and breakaway rider João Almeida and secure the stage 2 victory at Tirreno-Adriatico in Chiusdino. 

The World champion stormed across the finish line ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and overall leader Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma).

"I was focused on keeping my position and it was a perfect situation for us, with João Almeida [up front], and for me to follow the attacks in the final kilometres," Alaphilippe said. 

"I kept my position in the front with the help of Kasper Asgreen and Zdenek Stybar, and we saw João as going full gas in the last kilometre, so I was focused on what was happening behind me and everyone was on the limit. When I saw João, I went full gas. This victory makes me really happy."

Van Aert, stage 1 winner, kept his overall race lead by four seconds ahead of Alaphilippe and eight seconds ahead of Van der Poel as the race continues with stage 3’s 219km race from Monticiano to Gualdo Tadino on Friday.

Stage 2 ended on the slopes of the 7.5km climb to Chiusdino, which had an average grade of 3.5 per cent, that started at 2 per cent and then gradually kicked up to 5 per cent in the last two kilometres.

A breakaway quartet of Simon Yates (BikeExchange), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) cleared the field over the top of Poggio alla Croce, and entered the final climb with roughly 20 seconds in hand. 

Yates was distanced on the upper slopes as Sivakov made a powerful attack, which was then followed by Almeida and Landa. Almeida made one last searing attack, tongue hanging out, with 800 metres to go, and the Portuguese rider pushed on determined to take the stage win, as Sivakov and Landa could not respond and were swallowed up by the impending main field.

Almeida might have been able to hang on for the stage win if it weren’t for the power and strength in the field behind, with all the main favourites playing their cards in the closing metres. 

Alaphilippe followed the main moves, and then proved strongest of the bunch, attacking in the last few hundred metres, catching and passing Almeida, and then taking the stage win ahead of Van der Poel and Van Aert.

How it unfolded

Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) lined up as the overall leader for the start of stage 2 in Camaiore on Thursday determined to keep his race lead following a 202km race to Chiusdino.

The race headed out of Camaiore with a flat route for the first half before venturing deep into the Tuscan hills. Once in the Siena area, the route included more climbs through Rosia, Casciano di Murlo and Monticiano. There was only one categorised climb in Poggio alla Croce, at 166km, followed by one intermediate sprint at Monticiano before the route headed up towards the finish with a gradual climb and then a 5.4 per cent final kilometre in Chiusdino.

A group of six cleared the field early including Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli), Marcus Burghard (Bora-Hansgrohe), Vincenzo Albanese and John Archibald (Eolo Kometa), Simone Velasco (Gazprom) and Pieter Vanspeybroeck (Intermarchè Wanty Gobert). 

They gained more than five minutes in the opening 25km of the race and pushed across the Pisa Plain at 43kph. Velasco became the virtual race leader because he started the day in fourth place on GC at just seven seconds behind Van Aert, largely due to being involved in the previous day’s breakaway and picking up time bonuses.

As they raced closer toward the hills, Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-QuickStep were visible near the front of the main field chasing, and the gap dropped to 3:40. 

The break pushed on and worked well together but their lead dropped to 1:45 near the foot of the 4.5km Casciano ascent, which was quickly followed by a false flat and rapid descent. Niccolo Bonifazio (Total Direct Energie) displayed his expert descending skills at the head of the main field, swallowing up the six breakaway riders, who had spent nearly 150km off the front.

The field was back together ahead of the Poggio alla Croce (3.5km at 7 per cent), but Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) was the first to attack and launched clear of the field. Overnight leader Van Aert had appeared to be isolated with only two teammates left to help in the chase. 

Bernal was joined by Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal). Further back on the climb at 15 seconds, a chase group formed that included Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo), and while others attempted to bridge the short gap, the move didn’t stick.

A new lead group formed that included Simon Yates (BikeExchange), Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), João Almeida (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), who gained 12 seconds, with Yates picking up full mountain points over the top of Poggio alla Croce.

Ineos Grenadiers, with five riders still in the reduced field, organised themselves near the front but sat back behind Jumbo-Visma’s Tobias Foss and Timo Roosen, who were the only teammates left to help overall leader Van Aert.

The quartet of Yates, Landa, Almeida and Sivakov worked well together at first but they never really got more than 20 seconds on the field, and with 16km to go, there looked to be some question as to how much effort to put into a breakaway that didn’t show enough promise.

Sivakov jumped in pursuit of the time bonus for the intermediate sprint at Monticiano with 12km to go and collected 3 seconds with Yates taking 2 seconds, and Landa 1 second.

Into the final climb to Chiusdino, the quartet still had 20 seconds in hand as UAE Team Emirates moved forward to set a quick pace in the peloton behind them. Meanwhile, Ineos Grenadiers had a near-full team with world time trial champion Filippo Ganna protecting riders Bernal and Geraint Thomas, but with Sivakov up the road, they were under no obligation to set the pace.

Jumbo-Visma’s two riders stayed close to Van Aert but the overnight leader was followed by riders like Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R-Citroën) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), all capable of winning on the punchy finish climb.

The final climb was 7.5km, with an average grade of 3.5 per cent, but it started at 2 per cent and gradually kicked up to 5 per cent near the last two kilometres and into Chiusdino. Yates was immediately distanced as the breakaway attacks began and while Almeida proved the strongest of the remaining three, he was caught and passed by Alaphilippe in the final few hundred metres and watched as his teammate took the stage win for Deceuninck-QuickStep.