Danish professional cyclist Magnus Cort Nielsen won the second stage of the Tour of Catalonia. As expected, Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel held back before the first mountain stage.
Danish professional cyclist Magnus Cort Nielsen won the second stage of the Tour of Catalonia. After 167.4 kilometers from Figueres to Banyoles, the 33-year-old from Team Uno-X Mobility won the sprint ahead of Frenchman Noa Isidore (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Italian Francesco Busatto (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
Lipowitz and Evenepoel are holding back
As expected, Florian Lipowitz and Remco Evenepoel, who are starting a stage race together for the first time in Spain, held back. Tour third-placed Lipowitz (Laichingen) crossed the finish line in 45th place at the same time as Cort Nielsen as the best German. Two-time Olympic champion and time trial world champion Evenepoel finished 25th after the Belgian finished second at the start on Monday.
The tour of Catalonia is clearly a test for the duo from the top German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe for the planned joint project in the summer at the Tour de France as a dual leader. Both of them conserved their energy for the tasks ahead in the Pyrenees.
Vingegaard at the same time as Lipowitz and Evenepoel
At the same time as Lipowitz and Evenepoel, two-time Tour winner and Paris-Nice winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) crossed the finish line in 38th place. Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers), who duel with Lipowitz for third place and to win the junior classification at last year’s Tour of France, also didn’t lose a second in 34th place.
Regensburg’s Henri Uhlig (Alpecin-Premier-Tech), who achieved the best German result in eighth place on the opening stage, had to retire after a fall around ten kilometers before the finish. The French champion Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), who prevailed against Evenepoel in the sprint of the first stage, is still in the lead.
The first mountain stage is on the program on Wednesday. On the 159.4 kilometers there are climbs in the 1st and 2nd categories waiting for the peloton, the last 30 kilometers to Vila-seca are flat. We then head to the Pyrenees before the tour ends on Sunday with the seventh section in Barcelona
