Tour de Romandie 2019 – Stage 2 [LAST 20 KM]

May 2, 2019

Tour de Romandie 2019 – Stage 2 – Le Locle – Morges : 174,4 km

The 73rd edition of the Tour de Romandie stays true to form as a shorter, less intense first test for Tour de France contenders before next month’s Tour de Suisse and Criterium du Dauphine, attracting a stellar field and a well-balanced course. Last season, the victory went to Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo), who used his time trialing prowess and strong climbing form to claim the overall win over Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Richie Porte (BMC). This season, Roglic will be up against Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas, while an on-form Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), third in the Basque Country Tour, will be one to watch.

Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) upset the sprinters on stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie, attacking from the breakaway and holding off the peloton in the final 20 kilometres to claim his third career victory at the Swiss race.

The 174.4-kilometre stage from Le Locle to Morges contained a second-category climb at the mid-point and a third-category climb in the final 40km, but was widely expected to culminate in a bunch sprint.

However, in wet conditions, the sprinters’ teams, notably Elia Viviani’s Deceuninck-QuickStep, Sam Bennett’s Bora-Hansgrohe, and Sonny Colbrelli’s Bahrain-Merida failed to mount a successful chase.
Kung, the Swiss time trial champion, steadily reduced the six-rider breakaway with a string of accelerations, first halving it on the third-category climb before going solo on an uncategorised rise with 19km to go.

At that point, he had 1:20 in hand and, arms folded over his handlebars, he held it all the way to the shores of Lake Geneva. He had time in the final kilometre to sit up and savour his success, this being his third stage win at Romandie after similar breakaway successes in 2015 and 2017.

A minute later, Bennett sprinted to second place, with Colbrelli third, as a dejected peloton crossed the line. Overall leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was safely ensconced in there and retained the yellow jersey, with no changes towards the top of the general classification.

“I had a look at the stage profiles and realised this was a good day for me,” Kung said. “I knew that if I had a minute with 20km to go, then I’d have a chance. Of course, you’ve got to get in the right break and then to be able to drop the other guys, have the legs and hold off the peloton, so it’s complicated. But I pulled it off and it’s a great win for me.

“I really like the Tour de Romandie – it’s a home race in Switzerland and have enjoyed some beautiful moments in the past.”

How it unfolded

The roads were already wet as the riders set off towards Geneva, and there was barely reason to remove the rain capes all day. Kung was part of a six-rider breakaway that formed inside 10 kilometres and built a lead of five minutes as they descended the Col de la Tourne – stage 1’s final climb – down to the shores of the Lac de Neuchatel.

Joining Kung in the break were Geminas Bagdonas (AG2R), Jorge Arcas (Movistar), Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Gobert), Nathan Brown (EF) and Claudio Imhof (Swiss Team). The gap started to fall ahead of the second-category climb of the Col du Mollendruz but they hardly ceded ground on the 14.6km climb itself, taking 3:15 onto the descent and towards the finish town of Morges.

Once through the finish line for the first time with 40km to go, they went to tackle the Reverolle climb, and it was on those 8.5 per cent gradients that Kung made the first selection from the break. Only Bagdonas and Backaert could follow, and they entered the final 30km with a lead of just under two minutes.

Kung went again on an uncategorised incline with 19 kilometres to go, accelerating at the end of a tired turn from Bagdonas, who was dropped like a stone. Backaert managed to follow at first but was soon dispatched as well as Kung sustained his acceleration.

With 18km to go and a gap of 1:15, it was still in the peloton’s hands. However, Kung’s time trialling abilities, the wet weather – it was bucketing down by this point – and the gently downhill curving roads all combined to take it away from them. Shane Archbold (Bora-Hansgrohe) led for much of the way but Bennett didn’t use many other teammates and Viviani’s men only appeared at the front with just over 10km to go.

By that point, Kung still had 1:25 and the ball was very much in his court. Pacing his effort perfectly, he lost none of his advantage – in fact it only increased as the peloton became resigned to its fate. The draining of urgency was clear when Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) was able to launch a brief late attack.

Kung’s lead was cut to a minute by the finish line, but that’s only because he was already celebrating with several hundred metres to go, and he had every reason to. From the planning to the execution, it was a success straight out of the breakaway textbook, and it landed a victory that was his third at Romandie, his second for his new team, and his team’s first at WorldTour-level in 2019.

Results :
1 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 4:10:59
2 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:59
3 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
4 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
5 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team
7 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
9 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
10 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert
11 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
12 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
13 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team
14 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team
15 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
16 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
17 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Swiss National Team
18 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
20 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
21 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
22 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb
24 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
25 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
26 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
27 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
28 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
29 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Swiss National Team
30 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Swiss National Team
31 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
32 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
33 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma
34 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
35 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
36 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
37 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
38 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert
39 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal
40 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
41 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
42 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First
43 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First
44 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
45 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First
46 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
47 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos
48 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
49 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
50 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
51 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal
52 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
53 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team
54 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
55 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team
56 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
57 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First
58 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
60 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos
61 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
63 Patrick Müller (Swi) Swiss National Team
64 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
65 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
66 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
67 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
68 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott
69 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
70 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Ineos
71 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
72 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
73 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Swiss National Team
74 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb
75 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team
76 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
77 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
78 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
79 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
80 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
81 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
82 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Swiss National Team
83 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
84 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb
85 Florian Storck (Swi) Team Sunweb
86 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
87 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
88 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
89 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Swiss National Team
90 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team
91 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
92 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
93 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos
94 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team
95 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team
96 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
97 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe
98 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
99 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
100 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
101 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:19
102 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First
103 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:03:29
104 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos
105 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal
106 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team
107 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:31
108 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:58
109 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:24
110 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
111 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
112 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:42
113 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
114 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
115 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
116 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
117 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:07:00
118 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
119 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
120 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
121 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma
122 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:42
123 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
124 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo
125 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
126 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
127 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
128 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:11:50
129 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:25
130 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
131 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNF Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida
DNS Dion Smith (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 8:32:13
2 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
3 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:12
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:13
5 Carlos Betancur (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:14
6 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:15
7 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:17
8 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:18
9 Damien Howson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Winner Anacona (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:19
11 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:22
12 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:00:23
14 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:24
15 Michael Woods (Can) EF Education First
16 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:26
17 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
18 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:00:28
19 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
20 Patrick Bevin (NZl) CCC Team 0:01:04
21 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:01:07
22 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:01:10
23 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First 0:01:12
24 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:01:14
25 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) CCC Team
26 Rodrigo Contreras (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:17
27 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:01:20
28 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
29 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team 0:01:27
30 Matteo Badilatti (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:01:33
31 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:50
32 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:53
33 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:27
34 Jaime Castrillo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:41
35 Michael Storer (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:02:42
36 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:44
37 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:02:48
38 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:03:40
39 Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:42
40 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:04:13
41 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 0:04:52
42 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:54
43 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:04:55
44 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:00
45 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:05:01
46 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
47 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:05:02
48 Roland Thalmann (Swi) Swiss National Team
49 Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
50 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:04
51 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:05
52 Patrick Müller (Swi) Swiss National Team
53 Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu) EF Education First
54 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Mitchelton-Scott 0:05:06
55 Simon Pellaud (Swi) Swiss National Team
56 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:07
57 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First 0:05:08
58 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:05:09
59 Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:05:11
60 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:15
61 Jonas Gregaard Wilsly (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:05:17
62 Clément Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Ineos 0:05:19
64 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:06:09
65 Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:18
66 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:44
67 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Team Ineos 0:07:23
68 Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:08:41
69 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:49
70 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:50
71 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Ineos 0:08:52
72 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:55
73 Florian Storck (Swi) Team Sunweb 0:08:56
74 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Team
75 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:08:59
76 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:09:12
77 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:11:25
78 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Ineos 0:11:28
79 Jorge Arcas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:32
80 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:03
81 Claudio Imhof (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:13:24
82 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:13:25
83 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:13:27
84 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) CCC Team 0:13:29
85 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:13:31
86 Will Barta (USA) CCC Team 0:13:33
87 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:13:35
88 Manuele Mori (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
89 Callum Scotson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:13:36
90 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
91 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:13:40
92 Patrick Schelling (Swi) Swiss National Team 0:13:41
93 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:13:44
94 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:22
95 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:14:34
96 Neilson Powless (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:14:51
97 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First 0:14:55
98 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:15:09
99 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:16:09
100 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:16:15
101 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:19:15
102 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:19
103 Tom Bohli (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 0:19:21
104 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:19:31
105 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:19:38
106 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:19:41
107 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:07
108 Markel Irizar (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:19
109 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:23:47
110 Simone Consonni (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:48
111 Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
112 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
113 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:23:49
114 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
115 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:23:55
116 Daniil Fominykh (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:24:00
117 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data 0:24:06
118 Sander Armee (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:24:09
119 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Sunweb
120 Shane Archbold (NZl) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:24:14
121 Stephen Williams (GBr) Bahrain-Merida 0:28:57
122 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:29:47
123 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:29:54
124 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:32
125 Will Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:36
126 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:30:44
127 Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida 0:30:52
128 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:34:56
129 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:37:17
130 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:37:25
131 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:37:34