Tour of Britain stage 2: Matteo Trentin takes stage win and leader’s jersey
Trentin won from a sprint after a late attack from Alex Dowsett was caught in the final 100 meters.
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Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) took victory from a sprint after his teammates shut down a solo move from Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin).
Having been edged out in the sprint finish by Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) on stage 1, Trentin was quick to claim the victory he was so narrowly denied the day before, beating Jasper de Buyst (Lotto-Soudal) and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) in a scrappy late sprint.
The stage had looked set for a bunch finish as the race came into the final three kilometers of the stage when British time trial champion Alex Dowsett (Katusha-Alpecin) launched a solo move from the peloton. He soon grew a gap of nearly 10 seconds as a chase from Israel Cycling Academy, working for sprinter Davide Cimolai, failed to have an effect. However, as Mitchelton-Scott came to the front to aid their efforts, Dowsett was shut down and caught with just 100 meters to go, as the sprinters swamped around him.
Groenewegen was distanced in the final 20km as the pace rocketed in the group, and finished several minutes down, meaning he loses the leader’s jersey – which he gained on stage 1 – to Trentin.
The 165.9km stage started and finished in Kelso, Scotland, and featured two category 2 climbs in the final 40km before a long downhill toward the town center finish line.
The break went away early, made up of Gediminas Bagdona (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Sam Jenner (Team Wiggins), and Peter Williams (Swift Pro Cycling). They grew a gap of around two minutes before Jumbo-Visma took control and cut the deficit to try to secure a bunch finish for their Groenewegen, who won the sprint on stage 1.
With 30km to go, Matthieu van der Poel (Corendon Circus) attacked from the peloton, dragging Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal) with him, and the pair bridged across to the break, who were now only 30 seconds up the road.
Pavel Sivakov (Ineos) tried an attack from the peloton that didn’t stick on 20km. However, his acceleration was enough to split the peloton, with Groenewegen and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) caught out and dropped with around 30 others. The surge in pace also meant that the breakaway was caught, and so the race formed two large groups on the road.
Sprint teams Mitchelton-Scott and Israel Cycling Academy piled on the pressure to keep Groenewegen off the back as his Jumbo-Visma teammates looked to pull him back into contention. However, with 10km to go, the Dutch team were still over a minute back as Mitchelton-Scott continued pushing the pace.
Dowsett’s surprise move on 3km to go looked in with a chance of working, however, when Mitchelton-Scott came to assist the chase, it was inevitable he’d be caught. Trentin rewarded their efforts with his victory, which puts him first on GC, with an 11-second advantage over Cimolai and De Buyst, who are on the same time.
Stage 3, Monday, sees the race enter England, and is another mostly flat day that looks set for a sprint finish in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Stage 2 Results:
- Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott): 3:55:53
- Jasper de Buyst (Lotto-Soudal): S.T.
- Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma): S.T.
GC after stage 2
- Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott): 8:35:25
- Davide Cimolai (Israel Cycling Academy): +0:00:11
- Jasper de Buyst (Lotto-Soudal): S.T