2022 Tour of the Alps Stage 2 Results & Recap
Stage 2 of the 2022 Tour of the Alps is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Pello Bilbao conquers the frenetic second stage of the Tour of The Alps 2022. Despite the major attacks born from the first kilometers of the race, Bahrain - Victorious does well to go to close the descent towards the finish line and organize the perfect train for the Basque rider, who clearly imposes himself in the sprint ahead of Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ). Same names and same order for the general classification, with Bilbao ousting Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r Citroën), who came late after losing contact at the top of the last climb of the day. many are looking forward to this second stage with confidence. If the race starts practically uphill, this does not scare the attackers, who immediately start a hail of attacks that quickly exhaust the group. Obviously Giacomo Nizzolo was among the first to break away, the only important sprinter present at the race, but he is certainly not the only one because after just ten kilometers of running the group is reduced to about thirty units. Following the forcing of Astana Qazaqstan, the group breaks up further, with just ten men remaining in command. Felix Gall (ACT), Pavel Sivakov (IGD), Michael Storer (GFC), Jonathan Caicedo (EFE), Miguel Ángel López (AST), Thymen Arensman (DSM), Hermann Pernsteiner (TBV), Cian Uijtdebroeks (BOH), Matteo Badilatti (GFC) and Vadim Pronskiy (AST) quickly manage to make a difference, easily resisting the attempted return of Christopher Hamilton (DSM), Iván Cobo (EKP) and Carl Fredrik Hagen (IPT), while the rest of the group, with inside Geoffrey Bouchard and Pello Bilbao quickly accumulates a delay of more than a minute.
With the Ag2r Citroën men in control, the group maintains a not particularly strong pace, allowing many riders to re-enter from behind and the forwards to continue to increase their margin . At the brow of Passo Rolle, the ten leaders therefore begin the descent with an advantage of 1'04 "over Hagen, the only one who continues his pursuit, and 2'50" over the group, which continues to give the attackers more margin even in the descent. While the Norwegian returns before the flying finish line, the fugitives increase their margin up to a maximum of 3'38 ", when the men of Bahrain - Victorious take the situation in hand. Mendola the delay thus drops to 2'02 ", with Santiago Buitrago and Mikel Landa who get to work when the road begins to climb, further shortening the distance from the pacemakers, who soon after starting the climb lose Pronskiy and Hagen, imitated more ahead of Badilatti and Gall, the first to give in to Sivakov's forcing, who then starts alone in the final stages of the climb. moment, being then joined downhill by Caicede, with whom, however, he is unable to keep up with the rhythm of the quartet that forms in front of them. The two were soon caught up in their turn by the rest of the group, reduced to just Geoffrey Bouchard (ACT), Pello Bilbao (TBV), Romain Bardet (DSM), Natnael Tesfazion (DRA), Richie Porte (IGD), Santiago Buitrago (TBV), Einer Rubio (MOV), Esteban Chaves (EFE), Attila Valter (GFC), Hugh Carthy (EFE), Sean Quinn (EFE), Jorge Arcas (MOV), Mikel Landa (TBV), Clément Champoussin ( ACT), Clément Berthet (ACT), Lenny Martinez (GFC), Joseph Dombrowski (AST), Fabio Felline (AST), Christopher Hamilton (DSM), Matteo Badilatti (GFC) and Carl Fredrik Hagen (IPT). a delay of 1'43 ", the pursuers maintain an unchanged delay in the descent and in the first ramps of the following climb, which see Pernsteiner stop and wait for his teammates in pursuit. With the Austrian who immediately puts himself at the service of the team, the gap drops quickly to a minute from the new leading pair, as Arensman could not withstand Sivakov's acceleration, followed by the so the Storer. The two conclude the last climb of the day with an advantage of more than a minute over the group, but as soon as you start to descend Storer and Sivakov show their limits on the descent, unlike Bilbao, which drags its teammates in first person by quickly halving the detachment. During the 18 kilometers of descent the escape is thus canceled, but this dive also has the effect of causing a new division of the group, with the leader Geoffrey Bouchard who is left out.
After losing 45 seconds in the descent, the French and his companions try to re-enter the stretch of plain, but by now it is too late and the Emirati formation is very fast, rushing towards the finish line without even asking for a change. The attempts of the other teams to support the men of Pello Bilbao to organize the sprint in a different way are also in vain. The sinuous finish further favors the beret, who starts 100 meters from the finish undisturbed, without anyone being able to worry him.
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