Tour of Slovakia 2021 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

September 17, 2021

Tour of Slovakia 2021 – Stage 2 – Spišské Podhradie – Dolný Kubín : 179,7 km

The Tour of Slovakia is a stage race that takes place before the World Championships each year, featuring a plethora of cycling stars both domestic and international. This year will be the 65th edition of the race that usually features five stages and has been a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour since 2017. Beginning in Košice, the race will track from the east to west of Slovakia, along a route that will prepare the riders for the upcoming World Championships. Starting off with a picturesque prologue around Košice, the race will gradually travel from east to west, taking in Spiš Castle (one of the largest ruins in Central Europe), the High Tatras and the spa town of Trenčianske Teplice. Whilst a couple of the stages will suit the sprinters, a hilly stage across the High Tatras looks set to define the general classification and its short, but steep climbs will be the ideal preparation looking ahead to Flanders 2021.

In a chaotic finale, Jannick Steimle (Deceuninck-Quickstep) won stage 2 of the Tour of Slovenia, handsomely beating the second placed Peter Sagan (Bora Hansgrohë). Behind them, a crash disrupted the other sprinters as Cees Bol (Team DSM) slid out on the final corner. Navigating this tumult, Alvaro Hodeg finished third and retained his overall lead.

Sagan, the chief agent of chaos on the stage, had attacked near the summit of a Category 2 climb 14 kilometres from the finish, and only Steimle could follow. Though they were eventually caught by a small chase group and then the rest of the peloton with 3.5 kilometres to go, they proved the strongest riders in the sprint.

How it unfolded

From the small town of Spišské Podhradie to Dolný Kubín, the historic capital of the region, stage 2 meandered through the forests that populate central Slovakia. Much like stage 1, the severity of a profile containing two category 2 climbs and a Category 1 climb concealed the type of race that awaited as it ended in another bunch sprint.

Amidst the rain that fell on the stage’s opening kilometres, the breakaway sought to escape from the peloton. The initial escapees were caught, but more rose to replace them and a five-man group formed after 18 kilometres. Composed of Idar Andersen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), Fredrik Dversnes (Gazprom – RusVelo), Jakub Otruba (Elkov – Kasper), Boštjan Murn (Adria Mobil), and the polka-dot jersey Andrea Garosio (Bardiani – CSF – Faizané), this breakaway built up an advantage that reached 4:20.

The main obstacle of the day arrived after sixty kilometres. A category 2 climb swiftly followed by a category 1 climb with little descent in between gave the appearance of a 25 kilometre ascent, at a shallow gradient of just under three per cent. At both opportunities, Garosio took maximum points, further extending his lead in the mountains classification.

Dversnes, meanwhile, won two intermediate sprints and finished second in another, accumulating enough bonus seconds to move into the virtual overall top ten. Ultimately, though, he was unable to finish with the peloton and it was another beneficiary of these bonus seconds- Idar Anderson- who finished the day in the overall top ten.

Though Deceuninck-Quickstep and Bora-Hansgrohë had completed the majority of the early pace-making, Equipo Kern-Pharma moved to the front of the peloton with 35km to go and, with this injection of pace, the breakaway was caught 31 kilometres from the finish.

Equipo Kern-Pharma continued to string out the peloton on the approach to the final climb of the day- a 4.9km ascent at a 3.5 per cent gradient. This climb, 20km from the finish, provided the ideal launchpad to foil a potential sprint and Sagan, determined to win in his home region, attacked near the summit. He crested the climb first with Steimle stuck to his back wheel and the rest of the peloton scattered behind him. On the descent, Sagan opened up a time gap of 15 seconds but, hampered by Steimle’s refusal to contribute to the absence of his teammate Hodeg, the duo were caught by a small chase group.

They, in turn, were pursued by a larger group containing Hodeg and the rest of Deceuninck-Quickstep. For the next five kilometres, the race rested on a knife edge, caught between the powers of Bora-Hansgrohë who drove the front group and Deceuninck-Quickstep who marshalled their considerable strength towards the chase. Eventually, the race regrouped on a roundabout 3.5km from the finish but Bora-Hansgrohë kept the pace high to disrupt Hodeg’s sprint as much as possible.

In the final kilometre Steimle moved to the front, a position that he never relinquished, and he led into the final corner at 300m to go, with Sagan poised on his back wheel. Sagan had no answer to Steimle’s sprint, however, and as the crash unfolded behind both of them, Steimle sprinted to victory.

Results :
1 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:18:30
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
3 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4 Lukás Kubis (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
5 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
6 Gal Glivar (Slo) Adria Mobil
7 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
8 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
9 Matús Stocek (Svk) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
10 Idar Andersen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
11 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
12 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
13 Matej Zahálka (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
14 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
15 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
16 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
17 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
18 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
19 Marcin Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
20 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
21 Aljaz Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
22 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
23 Marek Canecky (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
24 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
25 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
26 Jan Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
27 Karel Camrda (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
28 Jiri Petrus (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
29 Jan Bárta (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
30 Jakub Otruba (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
31 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
32 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
33 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
34 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
36 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
37 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM
38 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
39 Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Team BikeExchange
40 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
41 Petr Klabouch (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
42 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil
43 Adam Toupalík (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
44 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
45 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
46 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
47 Helmut Trettwer (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
48 Corey Davis (USA) Maloja Pushbikers
49 Tomasz Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
50 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
51 Karel Tyrpekl (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
52 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
53 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange
54 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
55 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:43
56 Petr Fiala (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
57 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange
58 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
59 Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:58
60 Riccardo Carretta (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
61 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
62 Savva Novikov (Rus) Equipo Kern Pharma
63 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
64 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo
65 Gabriele Petrelli (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
66 Michal Schlegel (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
67 Jason Osborne (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:58
68 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
69 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
70 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:01:23
71 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
72 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:35
73 Dominik Neuman (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
74 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
75 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation
76 Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:01:49
77 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
78 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange
79 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange
80 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash
81 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
82 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
83 Edoardo Sandri (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
84 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation
85 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Qhubeka NextHash
86 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
87 Tomás Bárta (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:02:08
88 Simon Nagy (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
89 Patrik Tybor (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
90 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:14
91 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:23
92 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
93 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:03:16
94 Paul Taebling (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers 0:03:40
95 Juraj Lajcha (Svk) Slovakia
96 Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
97 Marceli Boguslawski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
98 Ziga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil
99 Andrea Debiasi (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
100 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
101 Pavel Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:05:00
102 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
103 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Team BikeExchange
104 Filip Lohinsky (Svk) Slovakia
105 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
106 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk
107 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma
108 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk
109 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Samuel Oros (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
111 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers
112 Mattia Garzara (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd
113 Tomás Kalojíros (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
114 Juraj Karas (Svk) Slovakia 0:05:55
115 Bostjan Murn (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:06:01
116 Aljaz Colnar (Slo) Adria Mobil
117 Yuval Ben Moshe (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
118 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
119 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
120 Ladislav Frolek (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
121 Stanislav Beres (Svk) Slovakia
122 Martin Gavenda (Svk) Slovakia
123 Adam Foltán (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
124 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
125 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM
126 Marcin Zarebski (Pol) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
127 David Kasko (Svk) Slovakia 0:07:57
128 Stefan Nôta (Svk) Slovakia
129 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
130 Tobias Vanco (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
131 Martin Chren (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
132 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
133 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
134 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
135 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation 0:10:12
136 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:12:14

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep 7:54:45
2 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:03
3 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:04
4 Eirik Lunder (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:12
5 Jakub Otruba (Cze) Elkov-Kasper 0:00:13
6 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
7 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:14
8 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
9 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:15
10 Idar Andersen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
11 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM 0:00:16
12 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:17
13 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:18
14 Lukás Kubis (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
15 Jan Bárta (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
16 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM
17 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:19
18 Matús Stocek (Svk) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
19 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation
20 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
21 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:00:20
22 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
24 Michael Kukrle (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
25 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
26 Adam Toupalík (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
27 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
28 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:21
29 Aljaz Jarc (Slo) Adria Mobil
30 David Per (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:00:22
31 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
32 Dominik Neuman (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
33 Matej Zahálka (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
34 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
35 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:23
36 Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den) Team BikeExchange
37 Tomasz Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
38 Marek Canecky (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica
39 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
40 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
41 Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Qhubeka NextHash
42 Gal Glivar (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:00:24
43 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
44 Karel Tyrpekl (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
45 Piotr Brozyna (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
46 Marcin Budzinski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
47 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:25
48 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
49 Jan Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín
50 Corey Davis (USA) Maloja Pushbikers 0:00:26
51 Michal Schlegel (Cze) Elkov-Kasper
52 Umberto Marengo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
53 Karel Camrda (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:00:27
54 Davide Martinelli (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:03
55 Fredrik Dversnes (Nor) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:01:07
56 Jason Osborne (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:13
57 Riccardo Carretta (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd 0:01:15
58 Luca Coati (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 0:01:17
59 Savva Novikov (Rus) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:01:18
60 Gabriele Petrelli (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd 0:01:21
61 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:24
62 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:39
63 Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:01:51
64 Kaden Groves (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:02:02
65 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Qhubeka NextHash 0:02:03
66 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:06
67 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:07
68 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:14
69 Karel Vacek (Cze) Qhubeka NextHash 0:02:17
70 Daniel Oss (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:34
71 Edoardo Sandri (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd 0:02:35
72 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:37
73 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:39
74 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:42
75 Nicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:04:00
76 Andrea Debiasi (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd 0:04:06
77 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:05:08
78 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:05:10
79 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:11
80 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk 0:05:12
81 Jiri Petrus (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:05:18
82 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:05:20
83 Petr Fiala (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:05:59
84 Damiano Cima (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:06:12
85 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:06:29
86 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:06:59
87 Enrico Zanoncello (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:07:03
88 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:08:21
89 Sergio Araiz Michel (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:08:23
90 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:08:24
91 Kristian Kulset (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:08:35
92 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:08:37
93 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:08:40
94 Helmut Trettwer (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers 0:08:43
95 Petr Klabouch (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team
96 Marceli Boguslawski (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:08:44
97 Ziga Horvat (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:08:52
98 Juraj Lajcha (Svk) Slovakia 0:08:56
99 Erik Baska (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:07
100 Tomás Kalojíros (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:10:11
101 Samuel Oros (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:10:12
102 Filip Lohinsky (Svk) Slovakia 0:10:14
103 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
104 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:10:17
105 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:10:34
106 Tomás Bárta (Cze) Topforex ATT Investments Pro Cycling Team 0:10:46
107 Patrik Tybor (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:10:50
108 Simon Nagy (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:10:54
109 Bostjan Murn (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:11:11
110 Hannes Wilksch (Ger) Team DSM 0:11:12
111 Julius Johansen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:12:16
112 Paul Taebling (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers 0:12:23
113 David Kasko (Svk) Slovakia 0:13:12
114 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:13:39
115 Mattia Garzara (Ita) Cycling Team Friuli Asd 0:13:40
116 Joonas Henttala (Fin) Team Novo Nordisk 0:13:45
117 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Maloja Pushbikers 0:13:47
118 Choon Huat Goh (Sin) Team BikeExchange
119 Pavel Stöhr (Cze) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:13:49
120 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:14:37
121 Juraj Karas (Svk) Slovakia 0:14:39
122 Stanislav Beres (Svk) Slovakia 0:14:42
123 Yuval Ben Moshe (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:14:48
124 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Aljaz Colnar (Slo) Adria Mobil 0:14:50
126 Sam Bewley (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:15:27
127 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:16:39
128 Martin Chren (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:16:40
129 Tobias Vanco (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:16:41
130 Stefan Nôta (Svk) Slovakia
131 Adam Foltán (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica 0:17:43
132 Taj Jones (Aus) Israel Start-up Nation 0:18:52
133 Marcin Zarebski (Pol) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:19:46
134 Ladislav Frolek (Svk) Cycling Academy Tren?ín 0:19:48
135 Martin Gavenda (Svk) Slovakia 0:19:50
136 Mehdi Benhamouda (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk 0:25:58