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Cycling Weekly

Sport

Pat Kinsella

'It's an incredible feeling' –Anthon Charmig takes victory on stage two of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes with stunning breakaway

Anthon Charmig Alex Baudin FRA Ben Healy Benjamin Thomas EF EducationEasyPost GC Sean Quinn UnoX Mobility FDJ United

Danish rider Anthon Charmig escaped to victory on stage two of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes after spending his day in the break.

The Uno-X Mobility rider proved himself best of a 10-man breakaway, which had led the peloton with a gap of over 5 minutes for the majority of the day, taking only his second ever pro win (the last one coming four years ago), and his first victory on European soil.

"For me, I don't get too many chances," the delighted Dane told reporters. "It's an incredible feeling! I'm so happy to be here."

"I think the whole team has really stepped up. The atmosphere in the team is really good. We have so much fun together. I have come straight from four weeks at altitude with the team, and we had a really good time. For motivation, it's the perfect environment, and it shows in the results."

Charmig got away from the lead pack after the final climb, the Côte de Saint-Vidal, and just kept increasing his lead, chased by Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Picnic PostNL), Vlad Van Mechelen (Bahrain Victorious) Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United) and Raúl García Pierna (Movistar). Renard-Haquin finished second, ahead of Van Mechelen.

Frenchman Alex Baudin finished 59th but retains his lead in the general classification, after an impressive victory in the opening stage yesterday, having been well looked after by EF Education-EasyPost teammates Ben Healy and Sean Quinn throughout the day. Local lad Clément Braz Afonso deprived him of the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey, however, with an impressively powerful performance on the final two climbs of the day.

The rider everyone is watching this summer, Decathlon's Paul Seixas, rode a measured race, the French teenager finishing safely in the peloton in 30th place for the stage to move into 15th spot in the GC. Britain's Ben Tullett (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) moved up to fifth and eighth in the GC respectively.

Much less positive news about João Almeida, with the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider dropping out the back of the peloton, clearly still suffering the effects of the illness that put him out of the Giro, with an appearance at the Tour de France looking increasing unlikely

Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) and Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) compete in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)

How it happened

Today's 234.3km route from Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux to Le Puy-en-Velay was the longest stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné, now known as the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, for over 20 years, and there will be some sore legs for the team time trial tomorrow, especially among the 10 riders who broke away from the peloton early on.

Afonso (Groupama - FDJ United) pushed particularly hard in the final 35km, riding hard over the penultimate peak, the category-2 climb of Côte des Baraques (4.2km at 6.6%), with fellow Frenchman Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché). Afonso was first over the summit, securing five points and putting himself in pole position for the polkadot jersey, which he subsequently secured.

By the time the breakaway reached the top of the final climb of the day, however, the rearing summit of Côte de Saint-Vidal (which has a gradient of 14% at its apex), Anthon Charmig was preparing to make a move. The Dane seized his chance during the descent, and soon established a commanding lead. With just 5km to go to the finish line, and the terrain flattening out, his lead went out to 30 seconds over the five remaining chasers, and he made the win look easy in the end.

Meanwhile, back in the peloton, EF Education-EasyPost were busy trying to keep control of the GC after the team's first ever win in this race yesterday. Netcompany Ineos started putting the pressure on during final climb, but Healy and Quinn held them off, and Alex Baudin retains the yellow jersey for another day in the alps where he was born.