Second day of the ‘Race to the Sun’, that continues without being seen, since the low temperatures and the overcast sky were once again the protagonist in the Paris-Niceand a new round to decide the winner of the day, which was none other than the Danish Mads Pedersen. The 27-year-old Dane is one of the runners who likes this type of weather the most. On a similar day, somewhat more demanding in terms of rain, he won the 2019 World Cup in Harrogate. There are already 29 conquests of Mads, the second in this race, of which he also becomes the leader. The Dutch Kooij, from the Jumbo, was left to a tubular. However, the aforementioned Jumbo saw how, againz, Pogacar surprised again. Well, more than surprising, he paid off againbecause it is clear that his attitude of attack is not new to anyone.
Once the Danish Gregaard, from Uno-X and who repeated the escape for the second consecutive day, there were 50 kilometers left to reach Fontainebleau. The peloton took the reins, increased the pace (we shot at an average of 47 km/h, a very fast day) and with 12 km to go, La Chappelle-la-Reine hosted an intermediate sprint that distributed bonuses to the first three. It was completely flat, which was not an impediment for Pogacar, who crossed in first position. Six seconds, plus the six of the first day won in the same way, and twelve rent over Vingegaard. He knows that he has to outdo the Dane before this Wednesday’s appointment, a team time trial that he already began to prepare after the second stage, because he began to roll while waiting to get on the podium with the best young man’s white jersey. The fact that Pedersen won (he was 3rd in the previous volata) prevented Pogacar himself from already dressing in yellow.
A revolutionary chrono
The third stage this Tuesday will be a revolutionary day for current cycling and that he returns to the French race 30 years later. It is a team time trial (32 km), but not one to use. The time will be marked by the first runner to cross the finish line, so the team’s strategy will be key, and Vingegaard’s Jumbo starts as a great favourite. Runners of stature such as Foss, Affini and Dennis, specialists in the modality, aim to be very important for a Jonas who knows that on this day he aspires to be superior to Pogacar and his UAE. Teams will leave every three minutes. “We have dedicated a lot of time to this stage, and even the formation that we brought here changed for said time trial”said Matxin, leader of the UAE, in the run-up to this flat time trial that started and finished in Dampierre-en-Burly. Alone, or accompanied, Vingegaard and Pogacar will theoretically be the ones who cross the finish line in first position compared to their teammates. In fact, the Jumbo team also came with a lineup more focused on the ‘Race to the Sun’ more focused on this stage than on the mountains.
Second stage classification
1st Mads Pedersen (DIN/Trek) 3h 28:57
2nd Olav Kooij (PBa/Jumbo) mt
3º Magnus Cort (DIN/Education First) mt
4th Daniel Mclay (GBR/Arkea) mt
5th Lionel Taminiaux (BÉL/Alpecin) mt
General
1st Mads Pedersen (DIN/Trek) 7h 19:35
2nd Tadej Pogacar (ESL/UAE) to 2
3rd Tim Merlier (BÉL/Soudal) at 4
4th Olav Kooij (PBA/Jumbo) to 8
5th Sam Bennett (IRL/Bora) mt
