Davide Ballerini wins again in Tour de La Provence
Friday, February 12, 2021 at 4:32 PM
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Davide Ballerini has put the second stage of the Tour de La Provence behind his name. On the ascending finish in Manosque, the Italian stayed ahead of his fellow countryman Giulio Ciccone in the final sprint. Ballerini, who also won the opening stage, also kept the leader’s jersey.
The opening stage of the Tour de La Provence had caused quite a stir on Thursday. Several riders later complained about dangerous road separations in the last kilometer. Amazingly enough, the peloton maneuvered around it without any accidents and Davide Ballerini eventually outdid Arnaud Démare in the final sprint. On the second day, the race was 174.6 kilometers from Cassis to Manosque. In the last 40 kilometers, on the local lap around the finish place, the peloton got the Col de la Mort d’Imbert and the Col Montfuron in front of the wheels. The line was after a climb.
Leading group with five men drives away
Five riders were allowed to leave early. Neoprof Filippo Conca (Lotto Soudal) teamed up with Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie), Eduard-Michael Grosu (Delko), Samuel Leroux (Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Baptiste Bleier (St Michel-Auber93). Grosu was in 68th place, ten seconds behind leader Ballerini, the best-placed rider of the bunch. On the Col Grand Caunet, after 15.9 kilometers the first climb of the day, the leading group already had more than two minutes. Behind it, Ballerini’s teammates at Deceuninck-Quick-Step set the pace in the peloton.
The riders had to deal with completely different weather than on the opening day, which was finished under predominantly sunny conditions. Now the ride was mainly driven in the rain, so it was necessary to pay attention to the bends and the many descents. The difference with the leading group was kept around three minutes on the hilly roads for a long time. At the first passage of the line at 40 kilometers from the line, the lead of the leading group was still 2:20 minutes. The passage through Manosque was used by Conca to drive away from the other four refugees and the Italian took a hole.
Five riders gave the stage color from the early break – photo: Cor Vos
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Just before the peloton passed the line, several riders slid down on the wet asphalt. Among others, the Danish road champion Kasper Asgreen and Fabio Aru went to the ground. That fall slowed the pace of the suit somewhat. At the front of the race, Conca walked away from his former flight companions in seven-league boots and was the first to round the top of the Col de la Mort d’Imbert, with 34.1 kilometers to go on the second climb of the day. That the Italian is a promising rider has already been proven: in the past two years he has always been number five of the Giro d’Italia for promises.
Peloton is preparing for the final
At 25 kilometers from the finish, Conca was the only rider to drive forward. The peloton with Deceuninck-Quick-Step in front had already approached less than a minute and a half and in the run-up to the last categorized climb, the Col Montfuron, the pack was getting closer. The Italian still reached the top first, but in the descent his escape was really over. The blue brigade of classification leader Ballerini, led by Zdeněk Štybar, led the crowd over the wet descent back to Manosque. However, with ten kilometers to go, the team misjudged itself on a roundabout.
Florian Vermeersch of Lotto Soudal and Movistar rider Matteo Jorgenson took advantage of the confusion and attacked. The very young duo, both riders still have to turn 22, made a nice hole in the rain, while the peloton recovered. Jorgenson put his arms in the time trial position (prohibited from 1 April), but could not avoid being caught up with Vermeersch at four kilometers from the finish. Then it was a countdown to the climax of this stage, which ended in an ascending finish. Astana and Bahrain Victorious, among others, pulled the peloton on a ribbon.
Julian Alaphilippe fell in the final phase – photo: Cor Vos
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Astana with four men in the lead led the peloton to the finish, which was written for the punchers and the riders with substance. At 1.2 kilometers from the finish, however, the race was startled by a crash by Aleksandr Vlasov and world champion Julian Alaphilippe, who were eliminated in the battle for the stage victory. In the end, Davide Ballerini started the sprint first in his colorful leader’s jersey. Despite the fact that Giulio Ciccone was still strong, the Italian from Deceuninck-Quick-Step held his ground and secured his second day success in a row. Ciccone came in second, Alex Aranburu third.
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