Kevin Vauquelin wins the second stage of the 2024 Tour de France from Rimini to Bologna of 199.2 km.

The Frenchman is the protagonist of the day's breakaway together with Pacher , Laurance , Houle , Oliveira , Cristian Rodriguez , Teunissen , Tejada , Abrahamsen and Jordan . The group of escapees accumulates about six minutes of advantage over the yellow jersey group, which drops to 5'39” at the top of the Galisterna hill.  

85 kilometers from the finish, near the flying finish line, there is a fall. De Plus was involved, forced to change his bike, as well as Van Aert and Jorgenson who restarted with some abrasions on the right buttock and right elbow respectively.

The fugitives took advantage of the situation, with the group slowing down, and gained an advantage, reaching beyond 9'.  

On the first pass on the San Luca climb the yellow jersey group recovers and gets back to 3'30” behind the breakaways. After the descent, 18 km from the finish line, three of the attackers are widening the gap: Vauquelin, Oliveira and Abrahamsen.  

On the second San Luca, Vauquelin attacks and remains alone in the lead, with the yellow jersey group almost 4' behind.  

In the main group Bardet is in difficulty and after the work of Adam Yates, Pogacar attacks. Only Vingegaard remains at the wheel of the Slovenian; the two collaborate and try to gain an advantage over the other big names, especially Roglic, who isn't very brilliant on the climbs.

Vauquelin arrives alone at the finish line in Bologna, behind him are Abrahamsen and Pacher, while on the flat Evenepoel and Carapaz close behind Pogacar and Vingegaard, who arrive with a handful of seconds ahead of Bardet and Roglic, who are in difficulty.

Thus Tadej Pogacar, thanks to the sum of his placings, is the new yellow jersey of the Tour de France. Giulio Ciccono also did well, tenth in the general classification, 21" behind the new leader.

ARRIVAL ORDER:  

1 VAUQUELIN Kévin Arkea - B&B Hotels  

2 ABRAHAMSEN Jonas Uno-X Mobility 0:36

3 PACHER Quentin Groupama - FDJ 0:49

4 RODRÍGUEZ Cristian Arkea - B&B Hotels ,,

5 TEJADA Harold Astana Qazaqstan Team,,

6 OLIVEIRA Nelson Movistar Team 0:50

7 LAURANCE Axel Alpecin - Deceuninck 1:12

8 TEUNISSEN Mike Intermarché - Wanty 1:33

9 HOULE Hugo Israel - Premier Tech 1:36

10 CARAPAZ Richard EF Education - EasyPost 2:21

GENERAL RANKING:  

1 POGAČAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates

2 EVENEPOEL Remco Soudal Quick-Step ,,

3 VINGEGAARD ​​Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike ,,

4 CARAPAZ Richard EF Education - EasyPost ,,

5 BARDET Romain Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 0:06

6 VAN GILS Maxim Lotto Dstny 0:21

7 BERNAL Egan INEOS Grenadiers,,

8 BILBAO Leather Bahrain - Victorious,,

9 PIDCOCK Thomas INEOS Grenadiers,,

10 CICCONE Giulio Lidl - Trek ,,

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency