Tour des Alpes-Maritimes: Christian Scaroni claims overall victory as Dorian Godon wins stage 2 from reduced group sprint

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Dorian Godon (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) won the second and final stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var, beating Joseph Blackmore (Israel-Premier Tech) to the line in Vence as the pair led home an elite group of 24 contenders.

Stage 1 winner Cristian Scaroni (XDS-Astana) was among the leading group, finishing in 19th place and thus securing the overall victory for himself – his third win in three days and a first stage race victory on his palmarès.

The Italian beats Bahrain Victorious duo Santiago Buitrago and Lenny Martinez to the top spot, just two days after also winning the Tour du Var. Buitrago lost out by six seconds in total, while Martinez’s third place came at 12 seconds back.

The first stage of the two-part race was always set to be the most decisive of the weekend, with Scaroni outfoxing the Bahrain duo at the end of the mountainous stage to Gourdon. However, there was still plenty left to fight for on the final stage.

Four climbs, including the first-category ascents of the Col d'Eze and Col de Châteauneuf, and a pair of later, lesser hills – Carros and then the Montée de la Sine near the finish – would still pose challenges to the hopefuls for stage and overall glory.

In the opening kilometres of the stage heading to the Eze, a strong group of 14 riders including Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), and Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) went clear, but the move wasn't allowed much leeway before being brought back into the fold.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) was next to give it a go, attacking on the Col de Châteauneuf around 90km from the finish. His move wouldn't be the race decider, though it would draw out several other big names to form a large group of favourites.

Soon afterwards, a break of two – Harry Sweeny (EF Education-EasyPost) and Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty) were allowed two minutes up the road. They would be brought back before the finish, though, leaving it up to the favourites to once again duke it out over the win.

Buitrago was the main aggressor, attempting to dislodge Scaroni and take over the race lead for good. The Italian stuck to the Bahrain rider's wheel, though, ensuring that there wouldn't be a change in jersey ownership at the finish.

Among all the GC battling, it was Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale who profited. The French squad organised themselves to lead out Godon for the final, setting him up to sprint for the line. In the end, the likes of Buitrago and Scaroni were out of the picture for stage honours, with Godon's acceleration more than enough to blast through and grab his 11th career triumph.

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