Cycling: The stage winner on the second day of the Tour de la Provence is called Elia Viviani. But contrary to what one might think from the name, the success did not come about through a conventional mass sprint.
Viviani wins wind relay race in sprint
A truly spectacular race took place on the second day of the seventh Tour de la Provence. Due to constantly changing wind conditions, the peloton tore into several parts and a large and well-known breakaway group formed. The teams Cofidis and Groupama - FDJ could not bring this back. The Ineos Grenadiers team in particular was active and should actually be rewarded with the day's win in the end. But a few kilometers before the finish line, it looked like a solo coup by Maciej Bodnar (Israel – Premier Tech) out. The Pole broke away from his companions and was only recovered by the combined forces of the British team. Eventually, this first group, the favorite, sprinted Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) was able to confidently win. After 151,8 kilometers from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, the Italian celebrates the first win for his new team, for which he was already on the road from 2015 to 2017. He can thank his teammate for that Philippo Ganna. The Italian was in the leader's jersey today and closed the gap to Bodnar in time.
#TDLP2022 🏆 Elia Viviani 🇮🇹 Ineos Grenadiers won the 1st stage of the Tour de La Provence 🇫🇷
Primer triunfo del año y 86 as professional. pic.twitter.com/HUm1wsqghL
- Passion Cycling 🚴🏻 (@pasiociclismo) February 11, 2022
Ganna won the opening time trial
The Tour de la Provence started yesterday with a classic prologue. This was decided by time trial world champions Filippo Gana (Ineos Grenadiers) confidently for themselves. The Italian was 7,1 and 12 seconds faster than his British team-mate at Berre-l'Étang after 13 kilometers ethan hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) and the Swede Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama – FDJ). The German Miguel Heideman (B&B Hotels – KTM) was a strong 20th, XNUMX seconds back.
PROLOGUE @GannaFilippo remporte le prologue de Berre L'Etang ! pic.twitter.com/IVRG9exXsD
— Tour de la Provence (@TourProvenceOFF) February 10, 2022