Tour de Suisse: Girmay beats van Aert and Demare in the sprint on stage 2

For Girmay (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty), it was his first victory after his heavy crash at the Tour of Flanders two and a half months ago and his first victory at World Tour level this season, his second overall. "When I crossed the finish line, I was surprised myself," said the 23-year-old. "I didn't think I'd come this far again."

Top 10 of the 2nd stage

1. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) 3:53:37
2. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) +0:00
3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) +0:00
4. Pavel Bittner (Team DSM) +0:00
5. Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) +0:00
6. Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:00
7. Ivan Garcia Cortina (Movistar) +0:00
8. Alex Aranburu (Movistar) +0:00
9. Mike Teunissen (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) +0:00
10. Cedric Beullens (Lotto Dstny) +0:00

At the finish line after 174 kilometres in Nottwil, numerous Eritrean flags were flying, and after Girmay got off his bike, many fans from his home country had already surrounded him and were celebrating their national hero. "Every victory in front of my people feels good."

And every time the African wins against the big-name competition, as in Switzerland, should give him further confidence. In addition to Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ), who Girmay relegated to second place, top star Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) was also left behind in third. Jordi Meeus rode to 6th place for the German team Bora-Hansgrohe.

The overall standings after the 2nd stage

1. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) 4:07:08
2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:05
3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) +0:06
4. Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:11
5. Johan Price-Pejtersen (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:17
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) +0:19
7. Stefan Bissegger (EF Education EasyPost) +0:20
8. Matteo Sobrero (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:20
9. Kasper Asgreen (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:23
10. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +0:25

There were no changes in the overall standings. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) defended the yellow jersey ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step), who is the best young pro in white. Van Aert has taken the lead in the points classification, Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) is the first wearer of the mountains jersey.

It was also a special day for Michael Schär. The Swiss rider is ending his career at the end of the season and was celebrated in his home region before the start of the stage. His colleagues from the peloton also stood in the guard of honour. The 36-year-old also characterised the day with a long breakaway attempt.

How the 2nd stage of the Tour de Suisse went

Three kilometres after the official start, Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Michael Schär (AG2R-Citroën Team). The duo dominated the majority of a largely uneventful stage. The Canadian secured the first two category 3 mountain classifications, Schär twice three bonus seconds in the sprint.

There was only excitement again 31 kilometres before the finish, when a mass crash broke up the peloton. 13 riders were involved, including sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) or Bora-Hansgrohe-professional Marco Haller. This happened on the approach to the final climb.

The delay in the peloton meant that the breakaway duo, who had a maximum lead of five minutes, just managed to get over the line, allowing Zukowsky to collect another three points. It was over immediately afterwards.

>>This was the 2nd stage

In the uphill section, Jumbo picked up the pace again to perhaps catch one or two sprinters, but it didn't work. At least the high pace helped Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) secured the points at the intermediate sprint without any rivals.

Groupama-FDJ led the peloton into the absolute final, led by Stefan Küng in the yellow jersey, to put Arnaud Demare in a good starting position. However, the pace in the peloton slowed in the final kilometre and order was lost. Then van Aert opened the sprint, but that was too early. Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) and overtook the Belgian. It was enough for Demare to take second place, van Aert finished third. Former world champion Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) also got involved in another bunch sprint in a major race and finished in fifth place.