Kevin Vauquelin is making history for his team Arkea-B&B Hotels. The 23-year-old Frenchman was the first rider from the Breton team to win a Grand Tour stage. On the 199-kilometre hilly stage 2 from Cesenatico to Bologna, Vauquelin broke away from the peloton with an eleven-man breakaway group shortly after the start of the race. As the peloton failed to do any consistent chasing, it was clear early on that the stage win would come from the escape group. On the final climb on the Cote de San Luca, Kevin Vauquelin broke away from his rivals with an attack and crossed the finish line as the soloist and superior winner of the day. Second place went to Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), with Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) in third.

Pogacar rides into the yellow jersey

Not only Vauquelin in the escape group, but also Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in the peloton used the final climb to attack. Only the reigning Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) was able to follow the Slovenian. All the other riders in the classification had to let go. In the final metres, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) managed to catch up with the duo. The other classification riders around Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), on the other hand, lost some time. After that attack and fourth place at the finish, Tadej Pogacar is the new wearer of the yellow jersey.

"The way things went in the breakaway today is fantastic. This victory is something very special for me and my team." - Kevin Vauquelin in the winner interview

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Tour de France 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 2

1. Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) 4:43:42
2. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) +0:36
3. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) +0:49
4. Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +0:49
5. Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:49
6. Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) +0:50
7. Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1:12
8. Mike Teunissen (Intermarche-Wanty) +1:33
9. Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) +1:36
10. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:21

Tour de France 2024: The current standings in the overall standings

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +9:53:30
2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:00
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:00
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +0:00
5. Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:06
6. Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) +0:21
7. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:21
8. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:21
9. Thomas Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:21
10. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +0:21

>> This is the 3rd stage of the Tour de France

How the 2nd stage of the Tour de France 2024 went

Shortly after the start of the race in Cesenatico, eleven riders broke away to form the leading group of the day: Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Decuninck), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels) and the holder of the mountains jersey Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) were among them. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco-AlUla) and Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Dstny) missed the jump into the leading group and tried to catch up with it a little later. After exhausting kilometres, however, they were ultimately unable to make the connection to the front.

Peloton at a moderate pace

The team of yellow jersey wearer Romain Bardet was responsible for the chase on stage 2. The dsm-firmenich PostNL team took it easy at the start and the leading group was more than eight minutes ahead at times. On the first climb, UAE Team Emirates took command at times and ensured that the breakaway's lead dwindled.

Signs of a breakaway victory

As a result, the peloton did not pick up any more speed - no team wanted to be responsible for the pace work. As a result, the peloton rolled on at a moderate pace while the escapees extended their lead. With 60 kilometres to go, they had a ten-minute cushion on the peloton: at this point at the latest, it was almost certain that the winner would come from the breakaway group.

Abrahamsen collects mountain points

Because Bram Welten (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) in the leading group dropped back into the peloton after a short time, the leading group consisted of ten riders for long stretches. Jonas Abrahamsen, who was in the leading group, was particularly active in the special classifications, winning five mountain classifications and the only intermediate sprint of the day.

With 21 kilometres to go, Nelson Oliveira opened up a gap in the leading group. He was joined by Abrahamsen and Vauquelin, who now formed a new leading trio. Vauquelin took the lead on the final climb and then set off on a solo. Abrahamsen tried to keep up with the Frenchman, but had to let him go in the end. In the final kilometres, Vauquelin confidently took the stage win ahead of the Norwegian.

The battle for the yellow jersey

Four minutes later, the peloton entered the final climb. There, Pogacar and Vingegaard pulled away, while the other riders in the classification were unable to keep up. Evenepoel and Carapaz caught up with the two top favourites for the overall victory, while other riders lost time, including Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Pogacar thus takes over the yellow jersey from Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL).

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