Tour de Suisse: Luis Leon Sanchez wins stage 2

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Luis León Sánchez (Astana) won stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse with a solo attack 11 kilometres from the line. The Spaniard, who finished six seconds up on the charging peloton, rounded off a great day for Astana, who also sealed victory at Critérium du Dauphiné moments earlier.

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hasngrohe) led the peloton home to take second place, while Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) took third. Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) took fourth but moves into the race lead thanks to bonus seconds acquired earlier in the stage.

Astana took charge of the race over the final two climbs of the day, blowing the peloton apart and dropping the sprinters on the steep slopes of the final ascent of Chuderhüsi. Omar Fraile made a move on the climbs, but it was Sanchez who took advantage of a lull in the peloton on the flat roads heading to the finish.

With several sprinters making their way back to the front, Sanchez launched, and quickly built a gap as the likes of CCC Team and Team Sunweb struggled to organise a chase. Once the chase was co-ordinated, it was already too late, and Sanchez had time to slow up and celebrate before crossing the line.

"I am so happy I could win today," Sanchez said. "I did not expect I could be so strong in the final, but I was lucky to hold the gap until the end. We knew we have to do this race as hard as possible as there are many big sprinters in the peloton. We had to try to escape the bunch sprint to get a chance to fight for the victory."

How it unfolded

Three laps of a circuit around Langdau im Emmental played host to the second stage of the race, each featuring two second-category climbs – Schallenberg (8km at 5.1 per cent) and Chuderhüsi (3km at 9.2 per cent). With the stage favouring classics riders, a bunch sprint was expected at the finish.

The action started as the flag dropped, with numerous attempts to get away by various riders in the opening kilometres. After ten kilometres of racing, four men got away, with Guillaume van Keirsbulck (CCC Team) joined by Gavin Mannion (Rally UHC Cycling), Claudio Imhof (Switzerland) and Fabien Grellier (Total Direct Energie).

The quartet had to work to build a modest lead of two minutes by the time they reached the first climbs of the day, but they weren’t all together for long. After Grellier led Imhof over the first ascent of Schallenberg, Imhof attacked on the descent building a 30-second lead over Chuderhüsi.

Imhof didn’t let up in the valley, pushing on to extend his lead to two minutes by the second ascent of Schallenberg. Over four minutes back, Bahrain-Merida controlled the peloton.

By the time Imhof reached the second ascent of Schallenberg, the chasers Mannion, Grellier and Van Keirsbulck were being reeled in by the peloton. They were soon caught, leaving Imhof alone, 2:30 up the road.

The Swiss duly added to his mountain points, leading over Schallenberg and Chuderhüsi. Back in the peloton, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) beat Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) at the intermediate sprint for two and one bonus seconds, respectively.

It was a quiet ride along the valley roads into the final lap. Imhof’s mechanical problem and subsequent bike change 42km out proved the only real event of note until the final two climbs of the day.

Astana took it up at the base of the final ascent of Schallenberg, dragging back Imhof, who was by then the new mountain classification leader with 21 points, with 37km to race. Further back, riders were quickly ejected from the peloton as the Kazakh team pushed the pace hard on the climb.

Three-time race champion Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) was surprisingly among the dropped riders, while up front Omar Fraile (Astana) attacked over the top of the climb. Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Roland Thalmann (Switzerland) joined him on the descent.

At the base of the final ascent of Chuderhüsi, the trio had a 20-second advantage but were caught at the top of the climb. With no other major attacks over the top, the final 18km drew the question of whether the sprinters could make it back before the finish.

Sánchez clipped off the front of the peloton with 11km to go, sensing a lull in proceedings as various sprinters, including Sagan, Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC Team) made their way back.

The 35-year-old quickly built up a 30-second advantage, and with the chasers taking their time to get properly organised, he was able to hold out well despite the seemingly poor odds of success. By the time CCC Team and Team Sunweb got numbers on the front, it was too late, and Sánchez could celebrate his victory in the final metres even as the peloton bore down on him.

"The team was super strong on the last two climbs, and later, when I saw a moment, I made my attack," Sanchez said. "For a few kilometers, the situation still was on the limit as the peloton was really close, chasing me hard. But in the end, I managed to resist and to win."

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