Tour of Denmark: Wout van Aert deemed stage 2 winner after reversal of fortunes for Jensen Plowright in sprint photo finish

Alpecin - Premier Tech rider Jensen Plowright (on right) reacts to photo finish on stage 2 of Tor of Denmark, where he finished second to Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech) appeared to have edged race leader Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in a narrow victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark, but after a closer look at the photo finish, the Belgian rider was confirmed to have crossed the line by a sliver of time versus the Australian.

Third place went to Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché) no matter the outcome of the winner.

The stage seemed to be a success for Alpecin-Premier Tech, who worked to control the stage finale after the peloton reeled in the day's early breakaway with 7.5km to go and then swatted down several late attacks.

After Van Aert opened the sprint but couldn't get separation, Plowright came in late on his left and appeared to snatch the stage win. However, a closer look at the bike throws by both riders showed Van Aert first to cross the line, holding off Plowright, and giving the race leader back-to-back stage wins.

The time bonus extended Van Aert's lead in the overall classification to 14 seconds over Unibet's Lukáš Kubiš, with Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) third at 16 seconds.

"It was actually super crazy and super fast. Lovely circuit, but super hectic on the way down. I got a really nice run to the finish in the last 200 [metres]," Plowright said after the finish, but before the review of the photo finish moved him to second.

The reversal by race officials confirmed what Van Aert saw after the finish in a timing photo.

"It was a chaotic finale. I had to launch my sprint quite early. Plowright suddenly came alongside me in the final metres, and as we crossed the line I genuinely had no idea who had won," Van Aert said in a team statement.

"I've never experienced anything like this before. Because of Plowright's reaction, I was convinced he had taken the victory. It wasn't until we saw the photo finish that everyone realized just how close it really was. I'm incredibly happy the win went my way."

Friday's stage 3 is the queen stage of the five-day race, with four categorised climbs across 202.9km from Fredericia to Vejle.

Results

Stage 2

Place	Full Name (Team)	Diff
1	Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	3:59:41
2	Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:00:00
3	Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:00:00
4	Giovanni Lonardi (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:00:00
5	Carl-Frederik Bévort (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:00
6	Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek)	+0:00:00
7	Enrico Zanoncello (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:00:00
8	Ben Oliver (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:00:00
9	Matys Grisel (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:00:00
10	Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:00:00

General classification after stage 2

Place	Full Name (Team)	Diff
1	Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	8:10:10
2	Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:00:14
3	Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:16
4	Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team)	+0:00:20
5	Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek)	+0:00:20
6	Tomas Kopecky (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:00:20
7	Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:00:20
8	Søren Kragh Andersen (Lidl-Trek)	+0:00:20
9	Gustav Wang (Denmark)	+0:00:29
10	Jensen Plowright (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:00:31
11	Matias Malmberg (Swatt Club)	+0:00:32
12	Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:00:33
13	Anders Foldager (Denmark)	+0:00:37
14	Matys Grisel (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:00:37
15	Filippo Ridolfo (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:00:37
16	William Levy Blume (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:37
17	Ben Oliver (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:00:37
18	Carl-Frederik Bévort (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:37
19	Marco Manenti (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:00:37
20	Jonas Geens (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:00:37
21	Dario Belletta (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:00:37
22	Casper van Uden (Team Picnic PostNL)	+0:00:37
23	Matyas Kopecky (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:00:37
24	Morten Nørtoft (Team Coloquick)	+0:00:37
25	Marcus Sander Hansen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:00:37
26	Teodor De Luca (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:00:37
27	Kasper Andersen (Swatt Club)	+0:00:37
28	Luca Paletti (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:00:37
29	Sylvester Vittinghus Stokbro (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:00:37
30	Andreas Stokbro Nielsen (Team Coloquick)	+0:00:37
31	Filippo Turconi (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:00:37
32	Santiago Ferraro (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:00:37
33	Nick Schultz (NSN Cycling Team)	+0:00:37
34	Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:00:37
35	Michiel Lambrecht (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:00:37
36	Francisco Muñoz (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:00:37
37	Francesco Carollo (Swatt Club)	+0:00:37
38	Henri Vandenabeele (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:00:37
39	Nicolo Pettiti (Swatt Club)	+0:00:37
40	Sébastien Grignard (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:00:37
41	Menno Huising (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:00:37
42	Pelle Køster (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:00:37
43	Alexander Kamp (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:37
44	Storm Ingebrigtsen (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:00:37
45	Pietro Mattio (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:00:37
46	Luca Cretti (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:01:10
47	Enrico Zanoncello (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:01:18
48	Mirco Maestri (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:01:18
49	Marton Dina (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:01:18
50	Christopher Juul-Jensen (Denmark)	+0:01:18
51	Noah Lindholm (Denmark)	+0:01:18
52	Tom Crabbe (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:01:42
53	Riley Sheehan (NSN Cycling Team)	+0:01:42
54	Ferre Geeraerts (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:01:42
55	Ashlin Barry (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:01:42
56	Antonio Polga (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:01:42
57	Tyler Stites (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:01:42
58	Samuele Zoccarato (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:02:20
59	Frank Aron Ragilo (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:02:27
60	Joel Mellby (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:02:27
61	Axel Källberg (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:02:33
62	Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:02:33
63	Simon Bak (Team Give Steel)	+0:02:46
64	Joshua Gudnitz (Team Coloquick)	+0:02:46
65	Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Denmark)	+0:02:46
66	Max Walscheid (Lidl-Trek)	+0:02:50
67	Noah Vandenbranden (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:02:52
68	Giovanni Lonardi (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:03:19
69	Dillon Corkery (Team Picnic PostNL)	+0:03:19
70	Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:03:19
71	Karl Kurits (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:03:19
72	Dion Smith (NSN Cycling Team)	+0:03:19
73	Thor Vangsø Nielsen (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:03:19
74	Gabriele Raccagni (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:03:19
75	Bailey McDonald (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:03:19
76	Patrick Frydkjær (Lidl-Trek)	+0:03:19
77	Conrad Haugsted (Team Coloquick)	+0:03:19
78	Felix Ørn-Kristoff (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:03:19
79	Juan Jose Lopez (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:03:19
80	Sam Brand (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:03:19
81	Lorenzo Masciarelli (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:03:19
82	Emil Schandorff Iwersen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:03:19
83	Scott McGill (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:03:19
84	Milan Menten (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:03:19
85	Alessio Martinelli (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:03:19
86	Henri Uhlig (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:03:19
87	Lindsay De Vylder (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:03:20
88	Marcin Budzinski (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:03:28
89	Mathieu Kockelmann (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:03:36
90	Niklas Behrens (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:03:55
91	Wessel Mouris (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:03:58
92	Hugo Scala Jr (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:04:37
93	Brem Deman (Team Flanders-Baloise)	+0:04:39
94	Sebastian Nielsen (Team Coloquick)	+0:04:58
95	Andreas Brandt Aidel (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:05:02
96	Aidan Buttigieg (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:05:02
97	Stian Rosenlund (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:05:22
98	Otto Schultz Jølving (Team Coloquick)	+0:05:33
99	Manuel Oioli (Swatt Club)	+0:05:33
100	Kiaan Watts (NSN Cycling Team)	+0:05:34
101	Martijn Rasenberg (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:05:34
102	Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarché)	+0:05:34
103	Tommaso Bessega (Team Polti VisitMalta)	+0:06:39
104	Ezra Caudell (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:06:39
105	Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani-CSF 7 Saber)	+0:06:42
106	Casper Pedersen (Denmark)	+0:07:07
107	Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen (Team Give Steel)	+0:07:22
108	Nils Eekhoff (Team Picnic PostNL)	+0:07:44
109	Lucas Maarfelt Toftemark (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:07:44
110	Paul Wright (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:07:48
111	Rick Versloot (Team Picnic PostNL)	+0:07:59
112	Mads Andersen (Swatt Club)	+0:08:23
113	Boas Lysgaard (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:08:24
114	Marius Hobolth (Team Give Steel)	+0:08:24
115	Mads Landbo (Team Coloquick)	+0:08:44
116	Ville Merlöv (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:09:09
117	Thom van der Werff (Team Picnic PostNL)	+0:11:04
118	Oliver Søndergaard (Team Give Steel)	+0:11:04
119	Kasper Jul Øhlenschlæger (Team Give Steel)	+0:11:04
120	Declan Irvine (Team Novo Nordisk)	+0:12:13
121	Nikolaj Mengel (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:12:40
122	Christian Bagatin (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:12:49
123	Asger Røjbek Sørensen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm)	+0:12:49
124	Rory Townsend (Unibet Rose Rockets)	+0:13:14
125	Robin Carpenter (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling)	+0:13:17
126	Alfred Mørch Kongstad (Airtox-Carl Ras)	+0:13:17
127	Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility)	+0:13:19
128	Hjalmar Klyver (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:14:00
129	Lucca Bennetzen (Team Give Steel)	+0:14:39
130	Theodor Clemmensen (Denmark)	+0:14:39
131	Gustav Frederik Dahl (Team Give Steel)	+0:15:04
132	Gustav Thompson (Lucky Sport Cycling Team)	+0:15:29
133	Johan Price-Pejtersen (Alpecin-Premier Tech)	+0:15:32
134	Mathias Sunekær Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek)	+0:16:43
135	Márk Valent (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort)	+0:21:22
136	Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek)	+0:23:09
137	Jonas Kind Høydahl (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)	+0:24:58