What a surprise! Paul Double beats favorites and hits double in second stage of Coppi e Bartali

Paul Double won the second stage of the Coppi e Bartali. The 28-year-old Brit surprised the depleted peloton in the final kilometers and reached the finish line just in time, ahead of Jarno Widar and Diego Ulissi. With his victory, Double takes the lead in the GC.

After yesterday's sprint stage, in which Caleb Ewan scored immediately on his first day of racing for INEOS Grenadiers, today it was time for the specialists in hills and the better climbers. With several climbs in the initial phase and the Sogliano al Rubicone - which had to be conquered three times - as a decisive factor in the final, it immediately became an important day for the GC.

Four riders quickly launched an attack in the second stage of the Italian stage race. The breakaway riders gained a lead of over four minutes, but with 115 kilometers to go, the lead had already dwindled to just under two minutes. With 100 kilometers to go, it was almost game over for the three remaining breakaway riders.

Early breakaway caught, Eenkhoorn and Majka attack

With 70 kilometers to go and the first climb of the Sogliano al Rubicone behind them, the large teams moved to the front of the peloton. With 40 kilometers to go, four riders again chose to attack, which could easily have formed a dangerous breakaway, as Rafał Majka and Pascal Eenkhoorn were two of the four leaders.

The four riders tried to build up a nice lead, but the peloton refused to let them go, catching them with 30 kilometers to go. On the second-to-last climb of the Sogliano al Rubicone, the pace in the peloton picked up considerably, causing several riders to be dropped. This left only a small group of riders to tackle the final climb.

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Eenkhoorn with Majka

Double is the smartest and hits double

Towards the final climb, several riders tried to create a gap and blow the race wide open. It looked like six riders had managed to break away for a moment, but with fifteen kilometers to go, everyone came back together again, after which one rider still chose to attack. Lennart Jasch (Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe) created a nice gap and started the final climb with a 50-second lead.

Jasch continued steadily in the final kilometers, but in the last three kilometers, when the road climbed steeply, the depleted peloton was quickly catching up, and Jasch was caught with two kilometers to go. Double (Jayco AlUla) managed to surprise the breakaway in the final kilometers and narrowly remained ahead of the group of favorites at the finish line. The young talent Widar finished second.

Result of stage 2 Coppi e Bartali

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