Dramatic Finale to Stage 2 in Bologna
There was a dramatic finale to Stage 2 of the Tour de France 2024 on the finishing circuit in Bologna that featured two ascents to the Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luco.
The Portico di San Luca – stairs by the climb with a roof and a series of arches – was packed with big crowds enjoying a Sunday of Tour de France climbing action.
Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa), who had been in the breakaway all day, dropped his remaining breakaway companions on the second time up the San Luca climb, and led the way over the top.
The Arkéa rider powered down the descent and along the flat, and crossed the finish line in Piazza Maggiore 36s ahead of Jonas Abrahamsen.
Video Highlights
These are video highlights of Stage 2 Tour de France 2024.
This is the last kilometre.
The GC Battle
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) then Adam Yates (UAE) led the reduced bunch up San Luca the second time. Vingegaard, Pogacar and Evenepoel were near the front.
Pogacar attacked, and Vingegaard responded instantly. The two of them led the rest over the top of the climb and worked together on the descent.
Evenepoel worked his way back on the descent and the flat, bringing Richard Carapaz with him. Remco and Richard caught Tadej and Jonas just before the line.
Pogacar takes the yellow jersey, but equal on time with Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Carapaz.
The Day’s Breakaway
There was an eleven-man break from early in the day.
The members of the breakaway were:
- Quentin Pacher
- Axel Laurance
- Hugo Houle
- Nelson Oliveira
- Kevin Vauquelin
- Cristian Rodriguez
- Mike Teunissen
- Harold Tejada
- Jonas Abrahamsen
- Jordan Jegat
- Bram Welten (who dropped away before Bologna)
Jonas Abrahamsen was in the polka dot jersey, and was collecting mountains points.
At one point, the break had over nine minutes, but on the first time over the line in Bologna the gap was down to just over 4 minutes.
Much of the time was taken back by Victor Campenaerts, riding for teammate Maxim van Gils.
There was a three-man breakaway from the breakaway, with Nelson Oliveira, Kévin Vauquelin and Jonas Abrahamsen. Vauquelin went solo the second time up the San Luca climb.
Crash at the Intermediate Sprint
There was a crash at the intermediate sprint when three riders went down – Laurens de Plus, Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson.