Jonas van Genecheten (IAM Cycling) won the 2nd stage of the Tour de Eurometropole today after another mass sprint finish. Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal) finished in 2nd and Louis Verhelst (Cofidis) was 3rd.

The day’s proceedings were characterised by a 6 rider break that were able to enjoy a maximum lead of 4’15”. The peloton seemed to have things under control for most of the day but the break would soon show they had kept something in reserve for the final. As the chase intensified an ill feeling Gerald Ciolek had to unfortunately abandon the race.

With 30km to go and just a 2’40” lead, the standard calculations foresaw the break being caught quite easily. While the escapees were in sight from around 10km to go, they would push the Lotto-Soudal peloton all the way until inside the 3km banner before surrendering. Our man for the day would be Theo Bos and he gives a detailed explanation of how the finale panned out.

Theo Bos – Rider
It was the first time I have been part of a final in a very long time, Tour of California was the last time actually, it was very painful but I enjoyed it. There was a lap with a few climbs, my job was to try survive and then make a good sprint. I did the lap in the past but never got to the finish in the first group. Today the weather was perfect, sunny and no wind so I gave it a good go. The whole team supported me for the entire stage and that gave me extra drive to want to dig deep. In the last kilometers I was alone and had to follow the moves of the other teams. That went well but at 1km to go I got passed by a lot of riders just before a crucial right hander. I just had to hang on and suffer from there. I didn’t have the strength to come back to the front and do the sprint. I felt the legs were good and I did a good race but I’m disappointed with my timing in getting to the front in the last kilometer. Overall though, I’m happy the legs are strong again and I could be part of a final after 200km of racing. The goal for the final 2 stages will be to do a good sprint now.