Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 2 [FULL RACE]

February 12, 2021

Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 2 – Cassis – Manosque : 170,6 km

The European road racing season will step up a gear this week with the sixth edition of the Tour de la Provence – the first ProSeries event of the year. The startlist is star-studded and the route is, dare we say, epic – so fasten your seatbelts and ready yourselves for what promises to be the most action-packed race of the season so far… The Tour de la Provence may be one of the newer events on the UCI’s European road racing calendar, but already it has managed to establish a name for itself as one of the toughest and most prestigious stage races outside of the WorldTour. With names like Thomas Voeckler and Nairo Quintana on its winners list, and climbs like Mont Ventoux and Col de l’Espigoulier in its routebook, it’s no surprise that the event has garnered so much respect in recent years.

Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won his second consecutive stage at the Tour de la Provence, beating fellow Italian Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) on the rising finish in Manosque.

Ballerini seemed to be riding for Julian Alaphilippe but when the world champion crashed in the rain with Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) with 1.2km to go, he took over and powered his way to victory. Alex Aranburu (Astana) was third and Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) was fifth.

Thanks to the ten-second stage winner’s time bonus, Ballerini extended his overall race lead to 16 seconds on Aranburu. Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) is third at 19 seconds.

Alaphilippe was not hurt in the crash and got up to finish the stage. He was given the same time as the Saturday’s queen stage of the Tour de la Provence climbs the lower slopes of Mont Ventoux, with the stage ending at the chalet Reynard after 9.7km of climbing at nine per cent.

“What a stage and what a team. They worked all day and I think it’s the best thing to win in the final when you see a team like this,” Ballerini said in praise of his teammates.

“I’m really, really happy for the team and the sponsor. I saw the crash from Loulou [Alaphilippe]. I think he’s good, I hope he’s good. It was not easy, it was very, very stressful in the final because it was raining, and also it was slippery on the downhill, but we stayed in front and did the best.”

How it unfolded

The 174.6km stage started on the Mediterranean coast in Cassis but then headed inland deep into Provence.

The stage started with an unclassified 3.2km climb and so most riders warmed up on the rollers before the start. The climb inspired an immediate attack and Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal), Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Énergie), Eduard-Michael Grosu (Delko), Baptiste Bleier (St Michel-Auber 93), and Samuel Leroux (Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole), who quickly got away.

The peloton was happy to let them go, with Ballerini’s Deceuninck-QuickStep team seemingly happy to lead the gradual and controlled chase.

The five riders opened a three-minute lead as they rolled over the Provence hills, with Rémi Cavagna and Yves Lampaert doing the hard work and heavy lifting to defend Ballerini’s Modrian-inspired leader’s jersey. They lined out the peloton as everyone tried to stay warm and dry in the 5 degrees Celsius temperatures and occasional showers.

As the kilometres clicked down, the five pushed on, but they were never allowed to extend their lead past three minutes and it began to fall into the final 50km of the stage.

The second intermediate sprint came in Manosque, close to the location of today’s finish. Conca decided to go solo and savour his debut with Lotto Soudal, casting his fellow breakaway riders to the wind as the climb began to hurt.

The tight corner in the final kilometre saw Kasper Asgreen slip out, sparking fear in the peloton and an ease in the chase.

Conca quickly pushed his lead out to over a minute and looked strong on the Col de la Mort d’Imbert climb. However Deceuninck-QuickStep regrouped and even Asgreen helped with the chase despite a bloody knee.

Arkéa-Samsic and Movistar also gathered at the front of the peloton helping with the chase as the rain came down and made for some nervous racing.

Conca was swept up with 16 kilometres to go, after the late Col de Montfuron climb.

Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) made a late attack on the road back to Manosque but Deceuninck-QuickStep kept up the chase, eventually sweeping them up with four kilometres to go.

Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) was one of several sprinters distanced as Astana took over the pace to protect Vlasov. However a touch of wheels saw him go down and Alaphilippe could not avoid him and also went down.

Astana decided to push with Omar Fraile (Astana-Premier Tech) doing a huge turn but after the tight right turn with 800 metres to go, Ballerini emerged to use his strength and speed to win again.

Results :
1 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:21:49
2 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
3 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
4 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
5 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
7 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
9 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
11 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
12 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
13 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
14 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
15 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
17 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
18 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
20 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
22 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
23 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
24 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
25 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
26 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
27 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
28 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
29 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
30 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
31 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
32 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
33 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
34 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
35 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
36 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
37 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
38 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
39 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
40 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
41 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
42 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
43 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:00:26
44 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
45 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:30
46 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
47 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
48 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
49 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:32
50 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
51 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:35
52 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:38
53 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:00:41
54 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:44
55 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:51
56 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:58
57 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
58 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
59 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:06
60 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
61 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
62 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
63 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:17
64 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
65 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
66 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie
67 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
68 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
69 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
70 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
71 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
72 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
73 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:01:43
74 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
75 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:53
76 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
77 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
78 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
79 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:01
80 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:02:19
81 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:02:35
82 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
83 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
84 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
85 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
86 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
87 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
88 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:02:46
89 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
90 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
91 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
92 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
93 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
94 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
95 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
96 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
97 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
98 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
99 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:28
100 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
101 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:30
102 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM
103 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:04:32
104 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:04:41
105 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:04:51
106 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko 0:05:03
107 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal
108 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:10
109 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:20
110 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:05:34
111 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:44
112 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
113 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:08:34
114 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
115 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
116 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
117 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
118 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
119 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
120 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
121 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
122 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
123 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
124 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:09:15
125 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:09:23
126 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:09:37
127 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:22
128 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
129 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
130 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
131 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
132 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
133 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
134 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
135 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko 0:10:32
136 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 0:11:05
137 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:15:45
DNS Ivan Centrone (Lux) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 9:04:52
2 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:16
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:17
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:19
5 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
6 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:20
7 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
8 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
9 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
11 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
12 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
13 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
14 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
15 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
16 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
17 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
18 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
19 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
20 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
21 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
22 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
23 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
24 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
25 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
26 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
27 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
28 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
29 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
30 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
31 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
32 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
33 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
35 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
36 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
37 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
38 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
39 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:33
40 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko 0:00:41
41 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
42 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:00:46
43 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:00:50
44 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
45 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
46 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:52
47 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:55
48 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:04
49 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:01:08
50 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
51 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM 0:01:26
52 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
53 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
54 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
55 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:33
56 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:37
57 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
58 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
59 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
60 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
61 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:38
62 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:39
63 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
64 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:40
65 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis 0:02:03
66 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:05
67 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:02:08
68 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:09
69 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:02:13
70 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
71 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:14
72 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:21
73 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:02:25
74 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:02:39
75 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie 0:02:44
76 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
77 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
78 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:45
79 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:55
80 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:03:00
82 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:03:06
83 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:03:10
84 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:16
85 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis 0:03:20
86 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:48
87 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:50
88 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:03:57
89 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:02
90 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:04:13
91 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
92 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
93 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
94 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
95 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
96 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
97 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
98 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
99 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:04:15
100 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
101 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:30
102 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:05:49
103 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:05:53
104 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:05:59
105 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko 0:06:30
106 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:07:01
107 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:25
108 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:07:34
109 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:11
110 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:08:54
111 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:09:42
112 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:01
113 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
114 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:10:02
115 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:14
116 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:36
117 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:42
118 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
119 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:10:48
120 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko 0:10:52
121 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
122 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:11:04
123 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 0:11:19
124 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:11:42
125 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:40
126 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:46
127 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:13:33
128 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:13:35
129 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
130 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
131 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:14:16
132 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:15:23
133 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:16:05
134 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM 0:17:14
135 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:17:40
136 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:36
137 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:22:18