Tour de la Provence 2022 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

February 12, 2022

Tour de la Provence 2022 – Stage 2 – Arles – Manosque : 180,6 km

Since its inaugural edition in 2016, the Tour de la Provence has fallen in February and served up an opportunity for pro riders from all over the world to kick start their road racing seasons and blow away the winter cobwebs. The four-day stage race, which takes place largely within the mountainous Provence region of southeast France, was built from the ashes of the Tour du Vaucluse and the Tour du Sud-Est – merging aspects of the two former races into one bigger and better event. Despite it being one of the youngest races on the UCI’s ProSeries calendar, it has quickly become one of the most prestigious stage races in France.

Bryan Coquard claimed his second victory of the season on stage 2 of the Tour de la Provence, finishing off a strong team display from Cofidis with a searing acceleration on the uphill finish in Manosque.

The 29-year-old, who moved from B&B Hotels to Cofidis in the winter and won a stage of the recent Etoile de Bessèges, beat Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and race leader Filippo Gonna (Ineos Grenadiers) in the scrambled sprint from a reduced peloton.

The 2km drag to the line in Manosque came at the end of a hilly stage that had already whittled the bunch down to 50 riders and played host to a sprint between a varied cast of characters; rounding out the top five were the contrasting figures of Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic).

With both Elia Viviani and Ethan Hayter dropped on the Col de l’Aire dei Masco with 25km to go, and with Richard Carapaz not starting due to a COVID-19 positive, Gonna took it upon himself to defend his lead and try for a third stage win for his team.

The Italian found himself on the front for a moment with 400 metres to go and then launched as Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) made a long-range bid for victory. But Coquard soon burst through with a devastating acceleration.

Alaphilippe, churning a huge gear, was able to move past Gonna and into the slipstream of the diminutive Frenchman but was never able to think about getting around.

For Coquard, it was further vindication for his move to Cofidis and for the team themselves it was redemption after their miserable afternoon on Friday. After failing to get anyone into the decisive echelon on stage 1, they came out swinging on Saturday, chasing the five-man breakaway all day before lighting up the race and shredding the bunch on the key category-two climb of the Col de l’Aire dei Masco.

They needed some assistance to claw back the dogged last survivor of the break, Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels), on the run-in but still had strength and invention to use on the final incline. Pierre-Luc Perichon pinged off the front and led in the final kilometre, forcing QuickStep to use up Dries Devenyns while Coquard sat back and prepared to make his race-winning acceleration.

With bonus seconds factored in, Ganna retains the black leader’s jersey, although his lead over Alaphilippe has been halved, while Latour remains in third place overall.

The Tour de la Provence concludes with the decisive summit finish at Montagne de Lure on Sunday afternoon.

Results :
1 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis 4:19:42
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
3 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
4 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
5 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
7 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel – Premier Tech
8 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
9 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
10 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
11 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
12 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
13 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
14 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM
15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
16 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
17 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
18 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:06
19 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies
20 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
21 Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
22 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
23 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel – Premier Tech
24 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
25 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
26 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
27 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
28 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic
29 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
30 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team
31 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:17
32 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
33 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
34 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:21
35 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:24
36 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:00:27
37 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:32
38 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:34
39 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:41
40 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:46
41 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel – Premier Tech 0:00:57
42 Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:01:25
43 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:01:34
44 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
45 Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:01:36
46 Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies
47 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:01:38
48 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:15
49 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:03:34
50 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:03:54
51 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:33
52 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
53 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:05:35
54 Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal
55 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
56 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
58 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
59 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
60 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
61 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel – Premier Tech
62 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM
63 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
64 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
65 Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM
66 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
67 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel – Premier Tech
68 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
69 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
70 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
71 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
72 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
73 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
74 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic
75 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
76 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
77 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
78 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
79 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel – Premier Tech
80 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
81 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
82 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
83 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
84 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
85 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
86 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
87 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
88 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
89 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:08:42
90 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
91 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
92 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
93 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
94 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
95 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:09:37
96 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:11:30
97 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal
98 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo
99 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal
100 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:11:39
101 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:14:11
102 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNS Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 7:45:43
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:02
3 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:14
4 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:16
5 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:25
6 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
7 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:27
8 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
9 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:30
10 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:32
11 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:38
12 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:42
13 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies 0:00:58
14 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic 0:01:06
15 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel-Premier Tech 0:01:21
16 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech 0:01:23
17 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:03:06
18 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:06:11
19 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
20 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM 0:06:14
21 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:06:19
22 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:06:50
23 Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:59
24 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:09:01
25 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:10:00
26 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:01
27 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
28 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
29 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:07
30 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:08
31 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM 0:10:09
32 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:16
33 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:10:18
34 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:24
35 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel-Premier Tech
36 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:27
37 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:10:28
38 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:10:31
39 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:10:34
40 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:10:37
41 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:38
42 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:10:41
43 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis 0:10:58
44 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:11:34
45 Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:11:55
46 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team 0:11:59
47 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:12:01
48 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:12:05
49 Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:12:06
50 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:12:20
51 Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:12:24
52 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:27
53 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:12:40
54 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ 0:12:47
55 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team 0:13:02
56 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:13:36
57 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:13:37
58 Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:13:57
59 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:23
60 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:15:28
61 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team 0:15:29
62 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:15:34
63 Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM
64 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:36
65 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
66 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:38
67 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
68 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel-Premier Tech 0:15:43
69 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:15:49
70 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis 0:15:50
71 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel-Premier Tech
72 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
73 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:15:51
74 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:15:55
75 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:15:57
76 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:15:58
77 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:16:03
78 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:16:05
79 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:16:12
80 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:17:13
81 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:28
82 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis 0:17:33
83 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel-Premier Tech 0:17:44
84 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:17:45
85 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:17:49
86 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:17:54
87 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:17:56
88 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:18:09
89 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
90 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:18:29
91 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:58
92 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:19:03
93 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:19:08
94 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:21:12
95 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:21:48
96 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:54
97 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:22:04
98 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:22:25
99 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:23:28
100 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:24:02
101 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:24:40
102 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:26:38