Tour de la Provence 2020 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

February 14, 2020

Tour de la Provence 2020 – Stage 2 – Aubagne – La Ciotat : 174,9 km

The Tour de la Provence is an early-season bicycle stage race in the Provence region of France. It is organized by southern French newspaper La Provence, which serves as the race’s title sponsor for its first three years. It is held in February, as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour calendar.

Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) won stage 2 of the Tour de la Provence with a powerful solo attack on the final climb of Les Crêtes above La Ciotat. The Russian champion ripped clear with two kilometres to go and opened a sizeable gap over a reduced peloton that failed to organise a chase.

Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) led home the chasing group some 24 seconds down on Vlasov, while his Astana teammate Alexey Lutsenko placed third on the stage. Lutsenko, who recently denied a report that he was coached by the banned Dr. Michele Ferrari, helped to police the chasing group in the final kilometre, though by that point, Vlasov’s lead already looked unassailable.

“It’s my first race with a new team, Astana,” said Vlasov, who joined from Gazprom-Rusvelo in the winter. “This my first race and my first victory, it’s a nice beginning to the season.

Kelderman had been the first rider to attack on the short climb to the finish, forging clear with 2.5km to go but his move was brought to heel almost immediately. Vlasov, however, launched a startling acceleration and quickly opened a winning margin over his pursuers.

“Some guys started to attack, and I wanted to protect our leader Lutsenko,” Vlasov explained. “He stayed on the wheels and I went full gas to do my best. In the last kilometres, I saw no one was behind me and I went full gas.”

Overall contenders Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Eddie Dunbar (Team Ineos) all came home in the same time as Kelderman and Lutsenko, 24 seconds down on Vlasov, while Pavel Sivakov (Team Ineos), Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) and Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) were further four seconds back.

Vlasov inherits the Mondrian-inspired overall leader’s jersey from stage 1 winner Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) and the 23-year-old Russian national champion carries a buffer of 28 seconds over Kelderman into Saturday’s pivotal stage up Mont Ventoux.

Lutsenko lies third overall at 30 seconds, with Magnus Cort (EF Pro Cycling) a further four seconds back in fourth. Vlasov is a strong climber, as evidenced by his striking display on Les Crêtes and a notable string of placings in 2019, including third at the Tour of Slovenia and Vuelta a Asturias, fourth in the Giro di Sicilia and fifth at the Tour of Austria, where he also won a stage.

“We will try to protect our positions in the GC,” Vlasov said of Saturday’s haul up Mont Ventoux, where the finish line will be at Chalet Reynard, some seven kilometres shy of the summit.

“We have the leader’s jersey and second place with Lutsenko, so we will try to protect our positions.”

How it unfolded

The early exchanges saw Cyril Barthe (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Jonas Koch (CCC Team) and Victor Lafay (Cofidis) forge clear over the opening ascent of the Col de l’Espigoulier and the trio established a maximum lead of eight minutes on the Col de la Coutronne before the peloton set about reeling them back.

The escapees had just half a minute in hand on the category 3 Côte de Brûlard. Koch led over the top with 23km to go but the peloton was already upon him as he crested the summit. On the descent, the Nippo Delko One Provence team began its onslaught in pursuit of local glory. After Romain Combaud’s move was snuffed out, his teammates Julien El Farès and Evaldas Siskevicius launched a two-up effort, taking advantage of the sinuous road towards La Ciotat to eek out a gap of 15 seconds on the peloton.

El Farès had to forge on alone in the finale Siskevicius’ wheels slipped from under him on a left-hand corner with five kilometres to go, and the Frenchman was caught by the Astana-led bunch as the uncategorised climb to the finish kicked up with 3.5km to go. Soon after Vlasov took flight, surprising the big-name favourites and perhaps his own teammates.

Results :
1 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 4:30:57
2 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:24
3 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
4 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) EF Pro Cycling
5 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
6 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
9 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
11 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
12 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:00:28
13 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
14 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
15 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling
16 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
17 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
18 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
19 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
20 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team 0:00:32
22 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
23 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
24 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:34
25 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:36
26 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:38
27 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
28 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:41
29 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:44
30 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
31 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
32 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:00:50
33 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:55
34 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
35 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:58
36 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
37 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:07
38 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:01:12
39 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:15
40 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:01:18
41 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:29
42 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:36
43 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis 0:01:38
44 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling
45 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
46 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
47 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:43
48 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:59
49 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:02:14
50 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:21
51 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:26
52 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:34
53 Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:58
54 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:03:02
55 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:03:10
56 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
57 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:12
58 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
59 William Barta (USA) CCC Team
60 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:04
61 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
62 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
63 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
64 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
65 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
66 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
67 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
68 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
69 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
70 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
71 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
72 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
73 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
74 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
75 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Pro Cycling
76 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
77 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
78 Kinfe Hailemichael (Eth) Nippo Delko Provence 0:05:04
79 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
80 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:35
81 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:05:41
82 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
83 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
84 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:28
85 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:06:35
86 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:06:56
87 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
88 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
89 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
90 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
91 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:01
92 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
93 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
94 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
95 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:07:24
96 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:07:51
97 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:53
98 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) EF Pro Cycling 0:08:13
99 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
100 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
101 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
102 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
103 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
104 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
105 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
106 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
107 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:01
108 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:26
109 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:10:02
110 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:10:21
111 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:23
112 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
113 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
114 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
115 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
116 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
117 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
118 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling 0:11:42
119 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:13:21
120 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
121 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
122 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
123 Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
124 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
125 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
126 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
127 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
128 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
129 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
130 Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
131 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic
132 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
133 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
134 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
135 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
136 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
137 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
138 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
139 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
140 Leonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
141 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
142 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:39
DNF Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
DNF Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNS Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 7:47:22
2 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:28
3 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:30
4 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:34
5 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
6 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
9 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
11 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
12 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:38
13 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
14 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
15 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
16 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
17 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling
18 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
19 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
20 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
21 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:42
22 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team
23 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
24 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling 0:00:44
25 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:46
26 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:48
27 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
28 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:51
29 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:54
30 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
31 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
32 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:01:00
33 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Pro Cycling 0:01:05
34 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
35 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:01:07
36 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:08
37 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) NTT Pro Cycling 0:01:17
38 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:01:22
39 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:25
40 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:01:28
41 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:39
42 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:46
43 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis 0:01:48
44 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
45 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling
46 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
47 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:53
48 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:09
49 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:02:24
50 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:31
51 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:44
52 Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:03:08
53 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:03:12
54 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis 0:03:20
55 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:22
56 William Barta (USA) CCC Team
57 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
58 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:14
59 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
60 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
61 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
62 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
63 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
64 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Pro Cycling
65 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
66 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
67 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
68 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
69 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
70 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
71 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
72 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
73 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
74 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
75 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
76 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:04:18
77 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:04:30
78 Kinfe Hailemichael (Eth) Nippo Delko Provence 0:05:14
79 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
80 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:45
81 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:05:46
82 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:05:48
83 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:51
84 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:38
85 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:07:06
86 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
87 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
88 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
89 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:07:11
90 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
91 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
92 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
93 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:07:34
94 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:07:55
95 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:08:01
96 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:08:03
97 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:08:10
98 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team 0:08:18
99 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 0:08:19
100 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:08:23
101 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
102 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
103 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) EF Pro Cycling
104 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
105 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
106 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
107 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:11
108 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:36
109 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:10:12
110 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:10:31
111 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos 0:10:33
112 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
113 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
114 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
115 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
116 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
117 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
118 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling 0:11:52
119 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:13:21
120 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:13:25
121 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team 0:13:27
122 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis 0:13:29
123 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:13:31
124 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
125 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
126 Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
127 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
128 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
129 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
130 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
131 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
132 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
133 Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
134 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
135 Leonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
136 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
137 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
138 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
139 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
140 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:14:18
141 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:14:47
142 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:45