2nd stage of the Tour of Guangxi, second bunch sprint. This time it was a tight affair in two respects. On the one hand, the last breakaway riders were only caught 250 metres before the finish line in Jingxi in southern China, right on the border with Vietnam. And on the other hand, the lead that the day's winner Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal - Quick Step) had over Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan Team) was not particularly large.

While the German narrowly missed out on his second victory as a professional, the 23-year-old Vangheluwe was able to clinch exactly that. It was his first at World Tour level, having previously won a stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk in the spring. Third place went to Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech). Opening stage winner Linoel Taminiaux (Lotto-Dstny) did not make it to the finish with the peloton.

The Belgian had to relinquish his red jersey as overall leader to Kanter, who was able to console himself for missing out on the stage win. He now leads the race ahead of Gijs Van Hoecke (Intermarche-Wanty). Kanter has also taken the lead in the points classification. However, it remains to be seen whether the 26-year-old from Cottbus can defend his lead. There are a few waves in the final part of stage 3 that could prevent a bunch sprint.

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Tour of Guangxi 2024 - Results at a glance

Tour of Guangxi 2024 - How the 2nd stage went

Right at the start of the 181-kilometre day, an eight-man group broke away. Chris Froome (Israel-Premier Tech), Filip Maciejuk (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarche-Wanty), Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Julien Vermote (Visma | Lease a BIke), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Martin Svrcek (Soudal - Quick Step) formed the attacking section. With temperatures once again hovering around 29 degrees and plenty of sunshine, they dominated most of the day.

With a maximum lead of around three and a half minutes, the breakaway reached the biggest hurdle of the day, an almost twelve kilometre long climb with an average gradient of just 3.3 per cent a good 40 kilometres before the finish. However, this was too much for four-time Tour de France winner Froome. He was dropped by the peloton a short time later, while the rest of the group continued their journey.

And almost all the way to the finish. Because even two kilometres before the finish line, the remaining septet still had a lead of almost 20 seconds. They were only caught again at the 800 metre mark. However, Van der Hoorn and Svrcek still refused to give up, pulled away again and caused chaos in the sprint preparations until 250 metres before the finish. Vangheluwe made the most of this. Kanter allowed himself to be pushed a little too far against the barrier on his rear wheel and had to take a short break, which possibly cost him the decisive punch for the last 100 metres, where the Quick-Step pro kept his nose in front.