Tour de Suisse 2018 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

June 10, 2018

Tour de Suisse 2018 – Stage 2 – Frauenfeld – Frauenfeld : 155 km

BMC Racing’s Richie Porte will head to this year’s Tour de France knowing that, at the ripe old age of 33, he’s not going to have too many more attempts to try to win, having spectacularly, and horrifically, crashed out of last year’s race, so he’ll be using the Tour de Suisse as a barometer of his form.And so it is for many at the Tour de Suisse, who use the race to hone – or sometimes even attempt to find – their form ahead of the Tour de France. And as it has always been, in tandem with those riders who choose the concurrent Critérium du Dauphiné to ready themselves for July.
Movistar pairing Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa get to test out how harmonious their race-winning potential is with their double-pronged attack in Switzerland, and get ready to add third-prong Alejandro Valverde in July at the Tour.Katusha-Alpecin come here with the defending Tour de Suisse champion who was the 2015 winner, too, in Simon Spilak. UAE Team Emirates, meanwhile, boast three-time Tour de Suisse winner – from 2012-2014 – Rui Costa in their ranks. It remains to be seen whether the Portuguese rider still has what it takes to win a fourth title, but he’ll be on all the contenders’ watch lists.

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) won stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse in Frauenfeld, sprinting to victory ahead of Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) after a hectic finale. Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin) rounded out the podium.

After a busy final 20km saw no teams really in control and a number of groups attempting to get away, the expected sprint eventually materialised. Though with no sprint trains in evidence at the finish, the last kilometre was a scrappy as those preceding it.

Team Sunweb hit the front in the final 500 metres while Sagan freestyled, jumping from the wheel of Michael Matthews to Greg Van Avermaet’s before an out-of-position Gaviria sped past. The Colombian was clearly trying to surprise the rest, going long with 300 metres remaining.

Sagan was wise to it though, hopping wheels once again and taking advantage of the slipstream to slingshot around the Quick-Step man 100 metres from the line. The victory is Sagan’s 16th stage win at the race and marks eight years in a row with at least one stage win.

“I’m very happy for this and I have to say thanks to all my teammates,” Sagan said after the stage. “They trust me and I was just thinking about the tactic we could do today. In the end, it all happened as I thought and I’m very happy to win this second stage here.”

“I don’t know [why I’m so strong at this race]. I did lots of hard work for all this, so maybe it’s from that,” he added. “We’ll have to see tomorrow – it’s another day. I know they [my legs] are not the best in this moment and I have to grow a little bit for the Tour de France, for sure.”

Stefan Küng (BMC) retains his overall lead, three seconds in front of teammates Greg Van Avermaet and Richie Porte ahead of Monday’s expected sprint stage from Oberstammheim to Gansingen.

How it happened

After the opening team time trial, held around the northeastern town of Frauenfeld, stage 2 stayed in the area for a likely sprint stage. The 156km stage, starting and finishing in the town once again, was made up of four laps of a 39km circuit.

Each lap featured a category 3 climb (1.7km at 7.6 per cent) midway through. With the last climb coming 21km from the finish though, it would be a big ask for anyone to hold off the sprinters.

The day’s break went away less than 5km into the stage, featuring Perrig Quéméneur (Direct Énergie), Filippo Zaccanti (Nippo-Vini Fantini) and Calvin Watson (Aqua Blue Sport). The trio quickly built up a three-minute gap, with Zaccanti leading the group over the first two climbs of the day as Watson took the sprint points.

Heading towards the third hill of the day, with 60km remaining, there was movement in the peloton as Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott) got out on the attack. The Swiss quickly chewed up the 1:50 gap to the breakaway, taking just 6km to bridge the gap and make it a quartet.

As Zaccanti took more points at the third climb, securing the first mountains jersey of the race. Meanwhile, BMC hit the front of the peloton, working to bring the gap to under a minute heading into the final lap. The catch would be made 30km from the line, with race leader Küng taking advantage to snag some bonus seconds at the sprint point.

Bora-Hansgrohe led the way up the final climb, upping the pace so as to discourage any attacks that might threaten Sagan’s sprint chances. Those came shortly after, as no team really took charge of proceedings.

The in-form Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida) enjoyed a brief foray off the front, while a dangerous move including Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Maximiliano Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) and José Joaquín Rojas (Movistar) got away at the 10km mark before BMC dragged them back with 5km to run.

With Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) on the wrong side of a split after the day’s final climb, all was set up for a sprint showdown between Sagan, Gaviria and Matthews, and the fans in Frauenfeld weren’t disappointed.

Results :
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:50:09
2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
3 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin
4 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb
5 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
6 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
9 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
11 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team
13 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
14 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie
15 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
17 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
18 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
19 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
20 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
21 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
22 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
23 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
24 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
25 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
26 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
27 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
28 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
30 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
31 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
32 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin
33 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
34 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
35 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
36 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
37 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
38 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
39 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
40 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
41 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
42 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
43 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
44 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data
45 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
46 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott
47 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
48 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
49 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
50 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
51 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
52 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
53 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
54 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
55 Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
56 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
57 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
58 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
60 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
61 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
62 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:00:10
63 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
64 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:18
65 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:02
66 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates
67 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
68 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
69 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
70 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
71 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal
72 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
73 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida
74 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
75 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
76 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
77 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
78 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
79 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
80 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky
81 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
82 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
83 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
84 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
85 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
86 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
87 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
88 Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb
89 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
90 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
91 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
92 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
93 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
94 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
95 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
96 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
97 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
98 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
99 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
100 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
101 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
102 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
103 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
104 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
105 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
106 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
108 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
109 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
110 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie
111 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
112 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team
113 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
114 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
115 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
116 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
117 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Direct Energie
118 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
119 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
120 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
121 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
122 Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:07:27
123 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
124 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
125 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
126 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky
127 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
128 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data
129 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
130 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
131 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie
132 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
133 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
134 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:01
135 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
136 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
137 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
138 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
139 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
140 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
141 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
142 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
143 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
144 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
145 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
146 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team
147 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:13:57

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 4:10:24
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:00:03
3 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team
4 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:20
6 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:23
7 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
8 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
9 Simon Gerrans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:28
10 Gregor Mühlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:30
11 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors
12 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
13 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
14 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
15 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:32
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Mitchelton-Scott
17 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb 0:00:33
18 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:00:36
19 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
20 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
22 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:39
23 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
24 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
25 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
26 Nathan Haas (Aus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:45
27 Arthur Vichot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:48
28 Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:49
29 José Gonçalves (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
30 Steff Cras (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
31 José Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:52
32 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:53
33 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:56
34 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
35 Koen Bouwmam (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
36 Bjorg Lambrecht (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:01
37 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
38 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
39 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal
40 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
41 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:05
42 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Sky
43 Sebastian Henao (Col) Team Sky
44 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:01:08
45 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
46 Mathias Frank (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:10
47 Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
48 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
49 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data 0:01:13
50 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Dimension Data
51 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
52 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:19
53 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
54 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:01:21
55 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
56 Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:23
57 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:02:04
58 Michael Gogl (Aut) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:09
59 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:18
60 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:32
61 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
62 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
63 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:34
64 Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Mitchelton-Scott
65 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:38
66 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:39
67 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:41
68 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:50
69 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
70 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
71 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:51
72 Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin
73 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:54
74 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:55
75 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
76 Filippo Ganna (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
77 Thomas Leezer (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:02:58
78 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:03
79 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
80 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 0:03:07
81 Joe Dombrowski (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:10
82 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:12
83 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
84 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
86 Oliviero Troia (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:13
87 Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:03:15
89 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
90 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:17
91 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:03:18
92 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:20
93 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie 0:03:21
94 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport
95 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
96 Romain Sicard (Fra) Direct Energie
97 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Direct Energie
98 Mark Christian (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
99 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:23
100 Magnus Cort (Den) Astana Pro Team
101 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:03:27
102 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team 0:03:28
103 Omar Fraile (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:03:32
104 Jesper Hansen (Den) Astana Pro Team
105 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:03:49
106 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:04:06
107 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:26
108 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Sky 0:04:46
109 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Ben Swift (GBr) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:47
111 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie 0:05:09
112 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:05:10
113 Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb
114 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:05:22
115 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:05:25
116 Nathan Brown (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
117 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:05:28
118 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:05:34
119 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:05:48
120 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:54
121 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:58
122 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:59
123 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:08:29
124 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Team Sky 0:08:32
125 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:08:35
126 Igor Anton (Spa) Dimension Data 0:08:40
127 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
128 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:09:29
129 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:10:10
130 Eduard Michael Grosu (Rom) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:10:22
131 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
132 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:23
133 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:10:30
134 Michael Albasini (Swi) Mitchelton-Scott 0:10:33
135 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:11:02
136 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport 0:11:20
137 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport 0:11:22
138 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:11:45
139 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:54
140 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:12:04
141 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:12:05
142 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:12:29
143 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:12:31
144 Bram Tankink (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:13:31
145 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:14:30
146 William Clarke (Aus) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:15:05
147 Sam Bewley (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:15:10