Tour of the Alps: S. Yates hits hard!

After creating a vacuum around him in the penultimate difficulty, Simon Yates won solo the second stage of the Tour of the Alps ahead of Pavel Sivakov and Dan Martin. The Briton from the BikeExchange team took the opportunity to grab the leader’s jersey for the event.

Simon Yates hit hard! The leader of the BikeExchange team took advantage of the demanding final of the second stage of the Tour of the Alps to claim the solo victory at Feichten im Kaunertal, his first success since the general classification in Tirreno-Adriatico last year. A short stage, barely 121.5 kilometers but offering four climbs for 2,500 meters of elevation gain that gave some riders ideas. Indeed, a courageous group of six tried their luck at the very start of the stage, very quickly taking nearly three minutes ahead of a peloton led by the Ineos Grenadiers formation of Gianni Moscon, winner of the first stage on Monday. As the road began to rear up, this breakaway lost an element in the person of Reinardt Janse van Rensburg. Reuben Thompson, for his part, accelerated to the top of Gachenblick, the first ascent recorded in this stage, standing out irreparably with Davide Bais.

Arkéa-Samsic blasted the race

But, at the foot of the Kaunergrat, the race has changed significantly in terms of the peloton. Indeed, to promote the designs of Nairo Quintana for this week in Sudtirol and Trentino, the Arkéa-Samsic formation moved to the front of the peloton to impose a higher tempo on the slope. An acceleration which very quickly put an end to the breakaway of the day, the last two members of which were taken back five kilometers from the top of the Kaunergrat. The acceleration of the Breton formation prepared the ground for an attack by Nairo Quintana 26 kilometers from the finish but three riders from the Ineos Grenadiers team, including Daniel Felipe Martinez, took care of the grain… before sending Pavel Sivakov on the attack. The Colombian of the Arkéa-Samsic team followed well as Hugh Carthy while Simon Yates, in a second time, made the connection. After another counter from Daniel Felipe Martinez, the Briton from the BikeExchange team made the difference.

S. Yates was the strongest

Indeed, while Nairo Quintana and Hugh Carthy were the first to let go, Pavel Sivakov gave in before the summit of Kaunergrat, leaving Simon Yates alone in the lead for the last 21 kilometers, including the final climb to Feichten im Kaunertal. While Aleksandr Vlasov also tried to react out of time with Dan Martin, Jai Hindley in the wheel, Simon Yates is irremediably isolated to go solo for stage victory. Pavel Sivakov did not cross the finish line until 41 seconds later, just under 20 seconds ahead of Dan Martin, Aleksandr Vlasov and Jefferson Cepeda. Jai Hindley, for his part, showed his limits after having benefited from the support of Romain Bardet, ninth in the stage, in the final. In the general classification, the hierarchy is the same with Simon Yates who dispossesses Gianni Moscon of the leader’s jersey with more than 40 seconds ahead of Pavel Sivakov and a little over a minute on Dan Martin.

CYCLING / TOUR OF THE ALPES
2nd stage – Innsbruck-Feichten im Kaunertal (121.5km) – Tuesday 20 April 2021
1- Simon Yates (GBR/BikeExchange) en 3h17’42’’
2- Pavel Sivakov (RUS/Ineos Grenadiers) at 41 ”
3- Dan Martin (IRL/Israel Start-Up Nation) à 58’’
4- Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS / Astana-Premier Tech) at 58 ”
5- Jefferson Cepeda (COL / Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) at 58 ”

9- Romain Bardet (FRA / DSM) at 1’42 ”

General classification after 2 stages (out of 5)
1- Simon Yates (GBR/BikeExchange) en 6h46’56’’
2- Pavel Sivakov (RUS/Ineos Grenadiers) at 45 ”
3- Dan Martin (IRL/Israel Start-Up Nation) à 1’04’’
4- Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS / Astana-Premier Tech) at 1’08 ”
5- Jefferson Cepeda (COL / Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) at 1’08 ”

12- Romain Bardet (FRA / DSM) at 1’52 ”

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