Cycling: Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) has won the second stage of the 2017 Tour de Suisse. The 34-year-old Belgian was the fastest man in a chaotic final in which the sprinters around Sagan, Degenkolb and Co. played no role. Patrick Bevin (Cannondale-Drapac) and Anthony Roux (FDJ) complete the podium. At the top of the overall standings is now Stefan Küng (BMC) in front of the Sunweb duo Tom Dumoulin and Michael Matthews. CCC professional Jonas Koch fell badly.
The 2nd stage of this year's Tour de Suisse was held on a hilly circuit around Cham, which had to be mastered a total of four times - the highest elevation was the Horben - quite demanding, but the sprinters and their teams also had chances of winning the day out of. Of course, such a profile also attracts the breakaways, who, unsurprisingly, tried to tear a gap to the field right from the start. A quintet also manages this directly - since the peloton takes it easy at first, the lead of the new leading group quickly increases to over five minutes.
But as early as the end of the second lap, the tempo in the field was increased - above all the two German teams BORA-hansgrohe and Sunweb set the tempo for their sprinters - Peter Sagan and Michael Matthews. The seconds then slowly melted away and it seemed only a matter of time before the breakaways would be caught. Unfortunately, there was also an ugly fall during this phase, in which the German CCC professional Jonas Koch was "seriously injured" according to the team - more information is still missing at the moment.
One of our riders went down and hurt himself badly. We will let you know when we get some more info #TourdeSuisse
— CCC SprandiPolkowice (@CCCProTeam) June 11, 2017
After short, courageous attempts by the escapees to face the pressure of the field, the lead finally tumbled away in the last lap and by the 20km mark it was over for the five brave drivers. After things calmed down for a short time, a group around Rui Costa (UAE) jumped forward on the Horben. A trio was formed with Costa, Jan Bakelandts (AG2R) and Damiano Caruso (BMC), which also harmonized very well right away. In the field, it was clearly Peter Sagan's team that did most of the work and tried to counter the attack of the strong top trio. At the 5km mark, this escape was also over and after a failed attack by Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet (BMC), a mass sprint was already in the offing.
On the slightly uphill home stretch, however, there were new attacks that threw a spanner in the works for the sprinters and their trains. A handful of riders were able to pull away a few meters and from this group Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) finally jumped forward and was the first to cross the line.
Final result Tour de Suisse 2017 Stage #2
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Philip Gilbert | BEL | Quick Step Floors | 04:22:36 |
2 | Patrick Bevin | NZL | Cannondale Drapac | |
3 | Anthony roux | FRA | FDJ | |
4 | Michael Albasini | SUI | Orica Scott | |
5 | Matteo Trentin | ITA | Quick Step Floors | |
6 | Marcus Burghardt | GER | Bora Hansgrohe | |
7 | Niccolo Boniface | ITA | Bahrain-Merida | |
8 | Peter Sagan | SVK | Bora Hansgrohe | |
9 | Valerio Conti | ITA | Team UAE Emirates | |
10 | Michael Matthews | AUS | Team Sunweb |
Overall ranking Tour de Suisse 2017 after stage #2
Tour Locations | Driver | Country | Team | Zeot |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stefan Kung | SUI | BMC Racing Team | 04:29:08 |
2 | Michael Matthews | AUS | Team Sunweb | 00:00:01 |
3 | Tom Dumoulin | NED | Team Sunweb | |
4 | Lars Boom | NED | Team LottoNL-Jumbo | 00:00:04 |
5 | Peter Sagan | SVK | Bora Hansgrohe | 00:00:08 |
6 | Damian Caruso | ITA | BMC Racing Team | 00:00:10 |
7 | Michael Albasini | SUI | Orica Scott | 00:00:11 |
8 | Hugo Houle | CAN | AG2R La Mondiale | 00:00:12 |
9 | Patrick Bevin | NZL | Cannondale Drapac | 00:00:13 |
10 | Matteo Trentin | ITA | Quick Step Floors | 00:00:14 |
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