Ewen Costiou fooled the chasers on Wednesday, the Groupama-FDJ United rider soloing to victory in stage 2 of the Tour du Limousin.
Costiou was one of a group of nine which bridged to a final breakaway rider inside the final 10km of the stage, which finished in Lanouaille, attacking the group 2km later to take the win alone. Mattéo Vercher, one of three TotalEnergies riders in the group, took second place, 18 seconds back, with Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) leading the remainder home in third, a further eight seconds down.
Costiou, who won the race overall last year, moves into the overall lead after Tuesday’s stage winner, Noa Isidore (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished in a chasing group, 1:37 behind. The race continues with two more stages remaining.
Stage two of the four day race took the riders on a 184.2km route between Salignac-Eyvigues and Lanouaille. With more than 2,500m of vertical ascent, it was another rolling day, with four short, sharp climbs and winding roads sure to make for a tense final 25km.
Some early aggression soon produced a breakaway, Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché), Kenny Molly (Van Rysel-Roubaix), Justin Coron (Veloce Club Rouen 76) and Baptiste Berger (Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais) and his teammate Axel Salvadori getting away and building an advantage which extended to more than five minutes.
That time began to drop as the race entered its second half, Groupama-FDJ United, Cofidis and the Decathlon CMA CGM squad of stage 1 winner Noa Isidore leading the peloton. Between them they took two minutes out of the leaders in the space of 30km.
Having attacked alone with 25km to go, Veistroffer was the last to be caught by a group of nine just inside the final 10km. A few moments later Costiou attacked that group, taking a lead of around 15 seconds into the final 3km.
Results
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Ewen Costiou (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
4:22:09 |
2 |
Mattéo Vercher (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:00:18 |
3 |
Alex Aranburu (Spa) Cofidis |
0:00:26 |
4 |
Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Totalenergies |
|
5 |
Antoine L'Hote (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM |
|
6 |
Axel Mariault (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
|
7 |
Yohann Simon (Fra) St Michel- Preference Home- Auber93 |
|
8 |
Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:00:28 |
9 |
Thomas Champion (Fra) St Michel- Preference Home- Auber93 |
0:00:31 |
10 |
Victor Papon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:01:30 |
11 |
Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort |
|
12 |
Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:01:37 |
13 |
Marius Innhaug Dahl (Nor) Decathlon Cma Cgm Development Team |
|
14 |
Valentin Darbellay (Swi) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
|
15 |
Killian Verschuren (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets |
|
16 |
Maximilien Juillard (Fra) Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais |
|
17 |
Valentin Ferron (Fra) Cofidis |
|
18 |
Rayan Boulahoite (Fra) Totalenergies |
|
19 |
Pierre-Henry Basset (Fra) Xds Astana Development Team |
|
20 |
Gerben Kuypers (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Altez Industriebouw Cycling Team |
General classification after stage 2
Position |
Rider (Country) Team |
Time Gap |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Ewen Costiou (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
8:19:47 |
2 |
Mattéo Vercher (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:00:22 |
3 |
Alex Aranburu (Spa) Cofidis |
0:00:32 |
4 |
Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:00:36 |
5 |
Axel Mariault (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
" |
6 |
Yohann Simon (Fra) St Michel- Preference Home- Auber93 |
" |
7 |
Antoine L'Hote (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM |
" |
8 |
Mathis Le Berre (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:00:38 |
9 |
Thomas Champion (Fra) St Michel- Preference Home- Auber93 |
0:00:41 |
10 |
Noa Isidore (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM |
0:01:37 |
11 |
Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort |
0:01:40 |
12 |
Maximilien Juillard (Fra) Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais |
0:01:41 |
13 |
Hugo Page (Fra) Cofidis |
0:01:43 |
14 |
Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:01:47 |
15 |
Rayan Boulahoite (Fra) Totalenergies |
" |
16 |
Simon Guglielmi (Fra) St Michel- Preference Home- Auber93 |
" |
17 |
Killian Verschuren (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets |
" |
18 |
Valentin Ferron (Fra) Cofidis |
" |
19 |
Valentin Darbellay (Swi) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
" |
20 |
Guillaume Adam (Fra) Veloce Club Rouen 76 |
" |
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