Tour de l’Ain 2020 – Stage 2 [LAST 10 KM]

August 8, 2020

Tour de l’Ain 2020 – Stage 2 – Lagnieu – Lélex Monts-Jura : 140,5 km

No one can take any great pleasure in the circumstances that have led to this restructured cycling season, but the organisers of the Tour de l’Ain have acknowledged that 2020 has ‘smiled’ upon them. A small stage race in the east of France, sitting on the third-tier of the racing circuit, has been transformed into a key juncture on the road to the Tour de France, and has attracted perhaps the strongest start list in its 32-year history. Previously set to take place in late May, having moved from its traditional mid-August slot in 2018, the three-stage 2020 edition will now take place from August 7-9. Sandwiched between the Route d’Occitanie and the Critérium du Dauphiné, it will see a host of Tour contenders move through the gears, including the Team Ineos trio of Egan Bernal, Geraint Thomas, and Chris Froome – the past three winners of La Grande Boucle.

Having narrowly failed to capitalise on the hard work of his Jumbo-Visma teammates on stage one at the Tour de l’Ain, Primoz Roglic judged his sprint to perfection to win the second stage in Lélex Monts Jura.

Roglic finished a couple of bike lengths clear of Egan Bernal (Team Ineos), with Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) on the Colombian’s wheel in third. As race leader Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-QuickStep) had been dropped on the last of five categorised climbs, the victory moved the Slovenian into the leader’s jersey, 10 seconds ahead of Bernal before Sunday’s final stage to the summit of the Grand Colombier.

Jumbo-Visma fully deserved their success, the Dutch team taking up the pace-making with 35 kilometres remaining and producing the kind of “steam-roller” performance that we’re used to seeing from their British rivals.

They first reeled in the five-man break, then set about shredding the peloton, Robert Gesink and Tom Dumoulin both heavily involved, their pace-setting reducing the front group to single figures, Jumbo-Visma and Ineos both having three riders among the leading nine approaching the top of that final climb, the Col des Menthières.

On its upper slopes, George Bennett took over, the Kiwi reducing the front group to six members, his teammates Roglic and Steven Kruiswijk glued to his wheel, Bernal the only Ineos rider in the mix, with Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) at the back of this line.

With 11km remaining, Kruiswijk made a solo attack, attempting to isolate Bernal. That this failed was largely down to Ineos’s Jonathan Castroviejo, who bridged back to the leaders with Conti and provided some much-needed assistance to his Colombian team leader, who then finished the job of closing down Kruijswijk with 7.5km to the line.

Kruijswijk made another attempt to go solo just inside the two-kilometre mark. When this was nullified, he still had enough left to lead out the sprint, Mollema jumping first, only to be hobbled by a mechanical. Bernal accelerated, but Roglic swept past him to take the stage and complete a hugely impressive show of force by his Dutch team.

“It was a perfect day. The whole team did a really great job and I was super happy that I could finish it off,” said Roglic. “It was definitely nice to see that the other guys are also strong. We’re here to find the right feelings and we’re concentrating on that.”

Looking ahead to the Tour de France, Roglic commented: “For the moment everything is going well, but we’re just taking things day by day.”

How it happened

The stage featured five categorised climbs. On the first of them, the Col de Montgriffon, five riders went clear: Jaakko Hanninen (AG2R La Mondiale), Simon Guglielmi (Groupama-FDJ), Nils Politt (Israel Start-Up Nation), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) and Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team).

Their lead reached four minutes on the second climb, the Col des Pezières, and edged out another 30 seconds or so going over the third, the Col de Cuvillat. On the penultimate ascent of the Côte de Giron, the peloton began to chip away at the break’s advantage, the gap falling significantly enough that Romain Sicard (Total Direct Energie) and Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli) attempted to bridge the gap to the escapees.

Sicard quickly dropped Pellaud and got to within 90 seconds of the leaders, only to see the Jumbo-led peloton cruise past. Politt was reeled in soon after Sicard. Guglielmi was the next to eaten up and dropped, as first Robert Gesink and then Tom Dumoulin pulled the peloton within sight of the three remaining escapees.

At this point, on the lower slopes of the Menthières, Hanninen hit out on his own. Not far behind the Finn now, the bunch was scattered by a final burst of power from Dumoulin, who passed the pace-making baton to Bennett. Race leader Bagioli and four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome were among the many dropped as the Kiwi led a mere nine riders clear.

As Hanninen was caught and passed, Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) dropped off the back of the lead group. Nearing the top of the Menthières, Bennett pushed the pace up a little more, this acceleration too much for Conti and Castroviejo, although this pair worked well to get back up to the leaders on the descent.

Although a chase group of five riders comprising Fabio Aru (UAE Emirates), Jan Hirt (CCC Team), Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Castroviejo got the leaders in their sights, Bennett’s final push kept them at bay and enabled Kruiswijk and Roglic to finish off in style.

Results :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 3:58:14
2 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Ineos
3 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:07
6 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:00:15
7 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:16
8 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep
9 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Team Ineos 0:00:20
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
11 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
12 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:30
13 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:01:20
14 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:11
15 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
16 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
17 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:03:42
18 Erik Fetter (Hun) Kometa Xstra 0:04:51
19 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
20 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21 Márton Dina (Hun) Kometa Xstra
22 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
23 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
24 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos
25 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos
26 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:06:36
27 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale 0:06:43
28 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team Sunweb
29 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
30 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
31 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
32 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
33 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:08:00
34 Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) Kometa Xstra
35 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
36 Matthias Fluckiger (Swi) Switzerland
37 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
38 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
39 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Nippo Delko Provence
40 Jakob Geßner (Ger) Germany
41 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
42 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
43 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:08:03
44 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
45 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:08:10
46 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
47 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:12:17
48 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo Delko Provence
49 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
50 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
51 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
52 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
53 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) Germany
54 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation
55 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
56 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos
57 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
58 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
59 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
60 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation
61 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:15:55
62 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
63 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
64 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
65 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team
66 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
67 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
68 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
69 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
70 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
71 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
72 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Germany
73 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation
74 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland
75 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
76 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
77 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
78 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
79 James Fouchee (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon
80 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:18:32
81 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:18:58
82 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
83 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Kometa Xstra
84 Daniel Viegas (Por) Kometa Xstra
85 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
86 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
87 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
88 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
89 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
90 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
91 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
92 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:20:08
93 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
94 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
95 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) Switzerland
96 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:38
98 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
99 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
100 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
101 Pedro Andrade (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
102 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
103 Jannis Peter (Ger) Germany 0:26:51
104 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:52
105 Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:27:12
106 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
107 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:28:41
108 Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-Quickstep
109 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
110 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
111 Simon Imboden (Swi) Switzerland
112 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Switzerland
113 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
114 Antoine Aebi (Swi) Switzerland
115 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
116 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Nippo Delko Provence
117 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
118 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert
119 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
120 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie
121 Gilles de Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
122 Dominik Röber (Ger) Germany
123 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis
124 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
125 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
126 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:30:51
127 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:42:16
128 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:44:10
129 Henrik Pakalski (Ger) Germany
130 Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
131 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
132 Rasmus Byriel Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
Sergio Garcia Gonzalez (Spa) Kometa Xstra

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 7:14:58
2 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Ineos 0:00:10
3 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:12
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:16
5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
6 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:23
7 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:00:31
8 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:00:32
9 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team 0:00:36
11 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:46
12 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:01:36
13 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 0:02:27
14 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
15 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
16 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:03:58
17 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Team Ineos 0:05:05
18 Erik Fetter (Hun) Kometa Xstra 0:05:07
19 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
20 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos
21 Márton Dina (Hun) Kometa Xstra
22 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
23 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
24 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
25 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:06:49
26 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:06:52
27 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:06:59
28 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R la Mondiale
29 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
30 Thymen Arensman (Ned) Team Sunweb
31 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
32 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos 0:08:01
33 Giacomo Garavaglia (Ita) Kometa Xstra 0:08:16
34 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
35 Jakob Geßner (Ger) Germany
36 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
37 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
38 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Nippo Delko Provence
39 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
40 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
41 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:08:19
42 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:13
43 Matthias Fluckiger (Swi) Switzerland
44 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
45 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:09:23
46 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team 0:10:05
47 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo Delko Provence 0:12:33
48 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation
49 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
50 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
51 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
52 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
53 Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
54 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) Germany
55 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:13:49
56 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
57 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos 0:14:19
58 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:14:25
59 Nils Politt (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:14:50
60 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:16:11
61 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Switzerland
62 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos
63 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
64 Jarrad Drizners (Aus) Hagens Berman Axeon
65 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
66 Edward Anderson (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
67 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
68 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
69 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Germany 0:16:42
70 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:16:58
71 James Fouchee (NZl) Hagens Berman Axeon
72 Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:17:27
73 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
74 Mikkel Bjerg (Den) UAE Team Emirates
75 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
76 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:17:57
77 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:38
78 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:18:48
79 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:19:14
80 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
81 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
82 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
83 Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
84 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
85 Sean Quinn (USA) Hagens Berman Axeon
86 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:19:56
87 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:20:11
88 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team 0:20:14
89 Stefan Bissegger (Swi) Switzerland 0:20:20
90 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:20:24
91 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
92 Daniel Viegas (Por) Kometa Xstra 0:20:30
93 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:54
94 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
95 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
96 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Kometa Xstra 0:21:00
97 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:21:21
98 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:21:40
99 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:21:51
100 Pedro Andrade (Por) Hagens Berman Axeon
101 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:22:42
102 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:26:08
103 Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:27:51
104 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:28:25
105 Jannis Peter (Ger) Germany 0:28:53
106 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:28:57
107 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
108 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Nippo Delko Provence
109 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:29:35
110 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
111 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie 0:29:44
112 Alvaro Jose Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:29:54
113 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
114 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Switzerland
115 Antoine Aebi (Swi) Switzerland
116 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:30:13
117 Gilles de Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
118 Dominik Röber (Ger) Germany 0:30:39
119 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis 0:31:14
120 Rob Power (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:31:40
121 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:31:51
122 Simon Imboden (Swi) Switzerland 0:32:20
123 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:32:42
124 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:34:10
125 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:35:15
126 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:36:22
127 Tom Dernies (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:45:23
128 Henrik Pakalski (Ger) Germany 0:45:42
129 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:46:17
130 Rasmus Byriel Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:46:43
131 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:51:51
132 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:58:03