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The 23-year-old launched a powerful attack on the second ascent of the San Luca with 14km to go, staying away to the line in Bologna to become the second Frenchman to win a stage after Romain Bardet's triumph in Rimini yesterday.
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) finished second, 36 seconds down on Vauquelin while Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) made it two French riders on the podium, taking third place 49 seconds behind the winner.
“It was really hard for me but I’m really happy," Vauequelin said after the stage.
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Tour de France 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
"I had a perfect day out in the breakaway. I have to thank [teammate] Cristian [Rodriguez, 4th on the stage] for his role in the way he helped me get through to win the stage. He put me in the perfect position and I knew I was going to be able to attack."
Before Vauquelin's stunning effort today, Arkea-B&B Hotels had never won a stage at the Tour de France, despite participating 11 times.
The final double ascent of the Cote de San Luca proved to be the decisive point of the stage, not just for the breakaway but also the general classification battle as we saw the first fireworks from the top contenders.
With Vauquelin's win sealed over three minutes up the road, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) attacked from the reduced peloton on the second ascent of the climb, with only Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease-a-bike) able to follow.
It was another moment in a long-running rivalry, and the two sped away from the rest of the field, coming into the final kilometre alone until Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) made it back for all four to finish on the same time.
Pogacar took over the yellow jersey from Bardet, with Evenepoel moving to second overall and Vingegaard into third, all on the same time as the race heads into Stage 3.
After two hilly days, the sprinters will get their first chance to go for glory in Stage 3 of the Tour de France, a 230.8km route from Plaisance to Turin. Watch from 7:05pm (AEST) on SBS On Demand and the SKODA Tour Tracker before coverage on SBS starts from 8:30pm.
Stage 2 results:
