VITORIA-GASTEIZ / OSLO (VG) Edvald Boasson Hagen (36) was broken for most of the stage but had to shake off his broken partner three miles from the finish. Victor Lafay rocked the main court and won the second stage of the Tour de France.
1 out of 5Photo: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/NTB
The Norwegian raced 14 kilometers into the second stage but had to drop the wheel to Neilson Powless with just over 30 kilometers remaining.
Rémi Cavagna was the last man on the three-man break today, but he qualified early on the stage, which ended in San Sebastián, Spain.
Two miles from the finish, Powless was also signed by main field chasers led by the UAE team.
Main field battled for the final bonus seconds of the stage with a duel between overall rivals Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, with the former victor emerging.
But the best sprint – that is for a stage win – saw Lafay compete against big guns like Wout Van Aert on the court, who was clearly annoyed that the win went to Frenchman Lafay when he pumped his fist into empty air.
– It did something for van Aert’s morale, TV 2 commentator Christian Paasche said of the Belgian who finished second.
Adam Yates retained the yellow leader’s jersey with a six-second advantage over Pogacar and his twin brother Simon.
Tobias Halland Johannessen is the best Norwegian in 34th place.
Boasson Hagen announced at the front of the stage that he wanted to attack.
– Edvald should use days like this to take advantage of opportunities, because opportunities don’t grow on trees. If the composition is right, and he looks sharp, then he can slip past the final hill, said TV 2 cycling expert Thor Hushovd.
When the rest of the three people had covered more than 20 km, the distance doubled to two minutes. It’s been increasing lately. About five minutes at most, before then cutting it in half.
With approx. With 70 km to go, Cavagna had to go down. So there’s a break of two more people with the Norwegian and the American.
Boasson Hagen claimed to sprint after 40 km.
Powless and Cavagna nearly awarded the Norwegian an extra point, and afterward Boasson appeared to say “thank you” to his rivals.
This is Boasson Hagen’s 13th time participating in the Tour de France. No other rider in this year’s edition has completed more stages in a grand race, according to NTB. Sunday’s stage was the 240th of his career.
The man from Rudsbygd has three stage wins in the Tour de France. The last one came in 2017.
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