Tour of Denmark 2021 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

August 11, 2021

Tour of Denmark 2021 – Stage 2 – Ribe – Sønderborg : 189,6 km

The PostNord Danmark Rundt is Denmark’s flagship stage-race and an opportunity for the nation to showcase its wonderful homegrown talent. In fact, since its first edition back in 1985, this race has seen 13 Danish victories. Traditionally, the five-day race starts on the Jutland peninsula and ends on the island of Zealand, home to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Since 2004 the race has included a pivotal GC stage that heads up the steep Kiddesvej climb in the city centre of Vejle. It’s this hilly stage, combined with a time-trial on the penultimate day, that usually determines the overall winner. As a result, the race favours strong puncheurs that are also adept time trialists.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) beat Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) to win stage 2 of the PostNord Danmark Rundt, his home national tour, to Sønderborg, which will host the stage 3 finish of the 2022 Tour de France.

The former world champion timed his surge to the line perfectly, catching the sprinters and their leadouts by surprise with a strong acceleration. Groenewegen and Nizzolo bumped shoulders as the Dutchman tried to accelerate on the right of Pedersen’s slipstream, costing both riders any chance of success.

Nizzolo finished second and Groenewegen was third. Groenewegen’s time bonus and stage 1 victory meant he kept the race leader’s sky blue jersey. Nizzolo is now second overall at four seconds, with Pedersen third at six seconds.

Mark Cavendish did not contest the sprint and finished 15th, with Deceuninck-QuickStep opting for a more aggressive strategy on the testing three finishing circuits. Remco Evenepoel drove the pace for the final two laps and Jannik Steimle went on to finish fifth.

The long stage of 189.6km took the PostNord Danmark Rund peloton along the southern border of Denmark before reaching Sønderborg. The summer winds blowing from the North Sea sparked a split in the peloton as they chased an early attack but the race eventually came back together and a new break formed with 70km to go.

A breakaway of Mads Kristensen (ColoQuick), Rasmus Quaade (Riwal) – who had earlier announced his retirement at the of 2021 season – Rasmus Wallin (Danimarca), Jakub Kaczmarek (HRE Mazowsze Serce Polski) and Emil Toudal (BHS – PL Beton Bornholm) opened a lead of 1:00 but the peloton kept them under control.

Jumbo-Visma and Deceuninck-QuickStep rode attentively at the head of the peloton to stay safe on the often narrow roads and to ensure the stage ended in a sprint.

The five attackers reached Sønderborg for the start of the three testing and technical 6.5km circuits, with Wallin leading over the line to take the lead in the climber’s classification, but they were swept up with 17km left to race.

Jumbo-Visma initially tried to control the peloton for Groenewegen while Deceuninck-QuickStep appeared to change their strategy after seeing the difficulty of the circuit and especially the rising finish.

Evenepoel rode at speed at the head of the peloton for long sections of the circuits, spitting out several Jumbo-Visma domestiques. However, Groenewegen and Nizzolo were able to stay protected up front, while Cavendish slipped to near the back of the reduced peloton.

Despite the presence of Groenewegen and Nizzolo and other talented sprinters, the finish appeared designed for Pedersen’s power finish and he stepped up at the right moment to produce a winning effort as Groenewegen and Nizzolo clashed behind him.

On Thursday for the 219.2km stage 3, the PostNord Danmark Rundt heads from Tønder to Vejle, with the short and steep hills of central Denmark and the Vejle finishing circuit likely to spark more aggressive racing. The race ends on Friday with a 10.8km time trial around the Frederiksberg suburb of Copenhagen.

Results :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 4:02:02
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
4 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
5 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
7 Arvid de Kleijn (Ned) Rally Cycling
8 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
11 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
12 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
13 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
14 Louis Bendixen (Den) Denmark
15 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
16 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
17 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
18 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
19 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
20 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
21 Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
22 Nils Lau Broge (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
23 Jesper Hansen (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
24 Jeppe Aaskov Pallesen (Den) Team Coloquick
25 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
26 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
27 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
28 Mads Rahbek (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
29 Magnus Bak Klaris (Den) Denmark
30 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
31 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
32 Daniel Stampe (Den) Denmark
33 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
34 Mads Kristensen (Den) Team Coloquick
35 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
36 Morten Hulgaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
37 Pier Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling
38 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
39 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
40 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
41 Simon Bak (Den) Denmark 0:00:11
42 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling 0:00:14
43 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:16
44 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:22
45 Mathias Larsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
46 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:47
47 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:50
48 Tobias Kongstad (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:00:52
49 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:54
50 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:01:06
51 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:30
52 Tim van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
53 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:42
54 Dorian De Maeght (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:02:29
55 Sebastian Nielsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:02:34
56 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
57 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
58 Nicolai Brochner (Den) Team Coloquick
59 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
60 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
61 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
62 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
63 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
64 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:03:59
65 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Denmark
66 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
67 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
68 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM
69 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
70 Frederik Jensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
71 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
72 Jonas Castrique (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:04:13
73 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
74 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:05:06
75 Alexander Salby (Den) Team Coloquick 0:05:23
76 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
77 Jelle Declerck (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
78 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
79 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
80 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash 0:05:32
81 Michael Gogl (Aut) Qhubeka NextHash
82 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:06:00
83 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Denmark 0:06:17
84 Rasmus Quaade (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
85 Pawel Bernals (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
86 Norbert Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
87 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
88 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
89 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:45
90 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:14
91 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
92 Julius Dalner (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
93 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
94 Markus Kramer (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
95 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
96 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
97 Anders Foldager (Den) Denmark
98 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
99 Emil Toudal (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
100 Mihkel Räim (Est) Mazowsze Serce Polski
101 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
102 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
103 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
104 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
105 Nathan Vandepitte (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
106 Mads Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick
107 Adam Holm Jørgensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
108 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
109 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
110 Christian Lindquist (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
111 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
112 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:09:34
113 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Qhubeka NextHash 0:09:58
114 Frederik Muff (Den) Team Coloquick 0:11:39
115 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk 0:11:49
116 Tomas Trainini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
117 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:12:17
DNF Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
DNF Rasmus Hestbek Lund (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
DNF Martin Toft Madsen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
DNF Etienne van Empel (Ned) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
DNS Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling
DNS Niklas Larsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
DNS Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
DNS Tobias Andresen (Den) Team DSM

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 7:49:24
2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:04
3 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:06
4 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:08
5 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:13
6 Arvid de Kleijn (Ned) Rally Cycling 0:00:16
7 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
8 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
11 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
12 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
13 Louis Bendixen (Den) Denmark
14 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
15 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
16 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
17 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
18 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
19 Nils Lau Broge (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
20 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
21 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
22 Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
23 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
24 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
25 Mads Kristensen (Den) Team Coloquick
26 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
27 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
28 Morten Hulgaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
29 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
30 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling 0:00:30
31 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:32
32 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
33 Magnus Bak Klaris (Den) Denmark 0:00:34
34 Jesper Hansen (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:00:35
35 Mads Rahbek (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
36 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
37 Jeppe Aaskov Pallesen (Den) Team Coloquick
38 Pier Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling
39 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
40 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:38
42 Mathias Larsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
43 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:50
44 Kasper Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick 0:00:51
45 Simon Bak (Den) Denmark 0:00:58
46 Daniel Stampe (Den) Denmark 0:01:05
47 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:01:22
48 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:25
49 Tobias Kongstad (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:01:27
50 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:05
51 Tim van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
52 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:37
53 Nicolai Brochner (Den) Team Coloquick 0:02:50
54 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
55 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:02:56
56 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:03:09
57 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
58 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
59 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
60 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
61 Sebastian Nielsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:03:29
62 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal 0:03:41
63 Dorian De Maeght (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:03:45
64 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:04:28
65 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling 0:04:34
66 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
67 Jonas Castrique (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:04:48
68 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:04:50
69 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
70 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:04:57
71 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:05:37
72 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash 0:05:44
73 Frederik Jensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm 0:05:53
74 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:56
75 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:05:58
76 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:06:02
77 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:06:14
78 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:06:28
79 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Denmark 0:06:46
80 Rasmus Quaade (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team 0:06:48
81 Pawel Bernals (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:06:52
82 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:07:02
83 Norbert Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:07:04
84 Jelle Declerck (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:07:17
85 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
86 Michael Gogl (Aut) Qhubeka NextHash 0:07:29
87 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:07:30
88 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:07:33
89 Adam Holm Jørgensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm 0:07:49
90 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
91 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:09
92 Anders Foldager (Den) Denmark 0:08:19
93 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:08:20
94 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:30
95 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
96 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:40
97 Julius Dalner (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:09:08
98 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
99 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Christian Lindquist (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:09:11
101 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:09:26
102 Markus Kramer (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
103 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
104 Alexander Salby (Den) Team Coloquick 0:09:43
105 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:09:58
106 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
107 Nathan Vandepitte (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:10:09
108 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash 0:10:29
109 Mihkel Räim (Est) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:10:55
110 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
111 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Denmark 0:11:28
112 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Qhubeka NextHash 0:11:52
113 Mads Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick 0:12:10
114 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM 0:12:11
115 Emil Toudal (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
116 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:12:12
117 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:13:46
118 Tomas Trainini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:15:30
119 Frederik Muff (Den) Team Coloquick 0:16:36
120 Robbe Ceurens (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk 0:16:46
121 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk