Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2022 – Stage 2 [LAST 15 KM]

February 19, 2022

Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2022 – Stage 2 – Puget-Théniers – La Turbie : 149,1 km

The Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var, which up until 2020 was known as the Tour du Haut Var, is a three-day stage race held in the hilly Var region of southeast France. The race often takes place in February, marking the start of the European stage racing season and the beginning of the long road towards the Tour de France in summer. Three hilly days in the Var mountains also serve as a perfect warm-up for those riders who are looking to find some form ahead of an action-packed spring season.

Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) stamped his authority on the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, easily out-sprinting climber Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) to move into the race lead. Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) was third from the chasing group.

Wellens had to bury himself to chase down a nine-second gap to the Colombian, who attacked over the Col d’Eze.

But the Belgian used his power to reel in Quintana with 3km to go and then, after a brief respite, helped to keep the chasing group at bay.

Wellens was always going to be the favourite over the diminutive climber, but while Quintana kept pace with the Lotto Soudal rider he could not come around.

“It was definitely not an easy stage but just like yesterday I felt really good and with the way the team worked tirelessly, it was just a joy to race like this,” Wellens said after his win. “They brought me towards the foot of the Col d’Eze just perfectly.

“I started the climb in ideal position but when Quintana launched his attack, I didn’t have an immediate answer. I realised he went a little too fast so I needed to pace my effort and I could eventually make up ground a bit later.

“To be honest, I was struggling on the plateau just after the summit but when I finally caught Quintana, I think that I broke his morale a bit. I knew the finish all too well because I live just a couple of kilometres away in Monaco.”

Wellens moves into the race lead on the same time as Quintana, with Madouas third in the overall standings at 26 seconds.

The final stage is a mad 113km dash from Villefranche-sur-Mer to Blausasc with three classified climbs, the Col d’Eze, Col de Berre les Alpes and the final climb, the Col de Saint Roche topping out 33.5km to go.

How it unfolded
It was a brisk start for the short stage 2 of Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var in Puget-Théniers, cloudy and 8.5°C for a quick 149km of racing to La Turbie.

With four classified climbs, including the Col d’Eze, well known for its position in the final stage of Paris-Nice, cresting with 7km to go, riders were keen to get into the day’s breakaway.

EF Education-EasyPost were particularly aggressive in the first kilometres, and after an attack-filled first 15km, Jonas Rutsch played the winning hand, sparking the move with Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroën), and locals Jonathan Couanon and Maxime Urruty (Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur).

Mark Donovan (Team DSM) tried to bridge across a 20-second gap but was not successful, and it was touch-and-go whether the breakaway could stay clear until 20km of racing when the peloton finally let off the gas.

The five leaders gained a maximum of three minutes but the advantage stabilised at 2:30 after the first hour of racing. Askey took the first sprint at Coursegoules after 49km just before the breakaway ascended the category 2 Col de Vence at kilometre 57.

Couanon claimed the maximum points over Calmejane and Rutsch but the peloton was closing in steadily.

By the Côte d’Aspremont, after 93km raced, the breakaway had only 30 seconds with race leader Caleb Ewan pulling for Lotto Soudal teammate Tim Wellens.

With 50km to go, the breakaway was nearly caught but a fall by Victor Lafay (Cofidis) slightly slowed the chase. Rutsch, bombing the descent, gained a slight advantage on his companions as first Askey then Couanon were caught by the chasing bunch.

Rutsch, Calmejane and Urruty kept going but Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) put in a surge and shut them down inside 45km to go.

Lotto Soudal and Cofidis led to the base of the Col de Châteauneuf de Contes. AG2R Citroën came forward before the summit but Ewan himself led the peloton over the KOM and on the descent, showing off his Milan-San Remo legs.

Mikaël Cherel (AG2R Citroën) had a crash near the front of the peloton on the technical descent and looked to be exiting the race, but just ahead, Ewan continued to keep himself and his teammates safe at the front.

Ewan shattered the peloton by descending like a madman, coming to the flats with just Wellens and Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) on his wheel with 23km to go. It was too soon to go alone, and Ewan waited for a chasing bunch with his teammates to rejoin.

On the Col d’Eze, Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) launched a move early on the climb and was chased by Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Wellens, with Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo) and teammate Bauke Mollema working to close the gap.

Quintana led Wellens onto the descent by nine seconds with the rest of the chasers at 30 seconds. The Belgian closed down the gap with 3km to go, setting up a cagey finale.

Results :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 3:46:00
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
3 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:25
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:27
5 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
6 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30
7 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
8 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) TotalEnergies
9 James Shaw (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost 0:01:31
10 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:01:33
11 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
12 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
13 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroen Team
14 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
15 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
16 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ
17 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
18 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
19 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:01:38
20 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
21 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:04:36
22 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
23 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
24 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team 0:05:34
25 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
26 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
27 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic
28 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis
29 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
30 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
31 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
32 François Bidard (Fra) Cofidis
33 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:57
34 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies
35 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM
36 Daniel Oss (Ita) TotalEnergies
37 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
38 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
39 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
40 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
41 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
42 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
43 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:08:47
44 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
45 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
46 Lorenzo Milesi (Ita) Team DSM
47 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:08:53
48 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
49 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:11:41
50 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
51 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
52 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
53 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal
54 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
55 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
56 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
57 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
58 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
59 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
60 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
61 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
62 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
63 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
64 Axel Mariault (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
65 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
66 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) EF Education-EasyPost 0:12:01
67 Magnus Brynsrud (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
68 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:15:13
69 Maël Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
70 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
71 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
72 Eugenio Sanchez Lopez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
73 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
74 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
75 Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies
76 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
77 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
78 Mikaël Cherel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
79 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
80 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
81 Martijn Budding (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
82 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
83 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
84 Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
85 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:16:34
86 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:16:36
87 Louis Barre (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
88 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
89 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
90 Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:18:01
91 Pau Miquel Delgado (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
92 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic
93 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:19:53
94 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM
95 Asbjørn Hellemose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
96 Simon Carr (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
97 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
98 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
99 Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies
100 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
101 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
102 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
103 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
104 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
105 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
106 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:23:26
107 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:24:51
108 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:25:44
109 Julien Amadori (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
110 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:29:05
111 Anders Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
DNF Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
DNF Søren Vosgerau (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Thomas Denis (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Yael Joalland (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNS Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 8:00:44
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
3 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:25
4 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:27
5 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
6 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30
7 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:01:27
8 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) TotalEnergies
9 James Shaw (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost 0:01:31
10 Kévin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:33
11 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
12 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
13 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
14 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroen Team
15 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
16 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:01:41
17 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
18 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:01:46
19 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
20 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:04:36
21 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
22 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis 0:04:44
23 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team 0:05:34
24 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
25 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
26 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
27 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic
28 François Bidard (Fra) Cofidis
29 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
30 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:05:42
31 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
32 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:06:22
33 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:06:57
34 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
35 Daniel Oss (Ita) TotalEnergies
36 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
37 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
38 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM 0:07:05
39 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
40 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
41 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
42 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:08:12
43 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:08:53
44 Lorenzo Milesi (Ita) Team DSM 0:10:02
45 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
46 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
47 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:10:08
48 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:11:41
49 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
50 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
51 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
52 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
53 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
54 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
55 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team 0:11:49
56 Jonas Rutsch (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
57 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
58 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
59 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
60 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
61 Axel Mariault (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
62 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:12:20
63 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:12:23
64 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) EF Education-EasyPost 0:12:35
65 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:12:56
66 Anthony Turgis (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:15:13
67 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:15:21
68 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
69 Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
70 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
71 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:15:47
72 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:15:49
73 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
74 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:15:52
75 Eugenio Sanchez Lopez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:16:28
76 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
77 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
78 Mikaël Cherel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
79 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:16:36
80 Louis Barre (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
81 Brent Van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:17:24
82 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:17:49
83 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:17:51
84 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:18:09
85 Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:18:43
86 Pau Miquel Delgado (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:19:16
87 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:19:53
88 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
89 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
90 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
91 Magnus Brynsrud (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
92 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:20:58
93 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
94 Asbjørn Hellemose (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:21:08
95 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM
96 Simon Carr (GBr) EF Education-EasyPost
97 Martijn Budding (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team 0:21:57
98 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:22:47
99 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:23:05
100 Maël Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
101 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
102 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93 0:25:06
103 Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies
104 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:26:59
105 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ 0:27:22
106 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:27:45
107 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:28:39
108 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:32:43
109 Julien Amadori (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:33:36
110 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:35:48
111 Anders Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:36:57