Itzulia Basque Country: Paul Lapeira wins slippery sprint in rain on stage 2

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Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) came through a crash-marred, chaotic finale on wet roads to claim stage 2 of the Itzulia Basque Country.

Decathlon-AG2R massed at the front with 600 metres to go on the rugged stage from Irun to Kanbo, and Lapeira then shot past Astana Qazaqstan rider Samuele Bastistella just before the finish to clinch his first WorldTour win easily.

Battistella hung on for second and Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) clinched third on a stage that saw a general regrouping of the peloton in the finale.

Race leader Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jonas Vingegaard (VIsma-Lease a Bike) were also in the front group of some 30 riders that just avoided a large crash with around four kilometres to go that split the peloton. 

However, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) were amongst those favourites that lost time, finishing in a large group 23 seconds off the front finishers.

“Getting a win at WorldTour level is something very special, it’s great” Lapeira told reporters as the up-and-coming young Frenchman celebrated his third victory in less than a month, and his team’s eighth this season.

“I actually tried to attack with 1.5 kilometres to go, but it didn’t work out. So I tried to ease back and keep something back for the sprint. Bruno [Armirail, teammate] brought me up to the front, and  he did a lot of work with 700 to 200 to go, and then I just went for it.”

How it unfolded

An early break containing the Azparren brothers, Xabier (Q36.5) and Ekoitz (Euskaltel-Euskadi), was joined by former Tour de France stage winner Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies), Ivan Cobo (Kern Pharma) and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) almost as soon as the stage 2 had left the start town of Irun.

The five opened a solid lead in no time at all, as well, carving themselves a gap of four minutes by the summit of the Saint Ignace, the one, early classified climb of the day. 

The next couple of hours passed fairly uneventfully, barring a mid-race crash for former Itzulia winner Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and teammate Simon Geschke, although Cobo finally found the going too hard and drifted back to the main peloton.

A further boost of power by Ineos Grenadiers to the chase - presumably riding for fast finisher and former Itzulia stage winner Ethan Hayter - gradually saw a collective increase in the bunch’s effort. As the first of a series of late rain showers began to teem down, the peloton reduced the gap to just over two minutes with 40km to go.

A mass sprint seemed all but inevitable, and the only question by this point was whether the four-rider break would make it to the second and last intermediate sprint on the constantly undulating rural roads. 

The presence of yet another two teams gunning for a sprint finale, Bahrain Victorious and UAE Team Emirates, showed that the bunch meant business despite the technical race route proving so hard for a chase. 

Riding on their home terrain, the Basque Country-born Azparren brothers were seemingly the most determined by this late stage, while Bol drifted on and off the back before taking one last big couple of turns. Much smoother, broader roads though, made it even harder for the quartet’s survival and after a series of fistbumps and handclasps between the four for staying away for so long, a general regrouping took place with 12km to go.

A grinding, uphill intermediate sprint that followed almost immediately saw no sign in the reduction of the pace, though. Yet more constantly rising and dipping roads made it hard for any team to control, with Visma-Lease a Bike clearly keen to keep their leader Vingegaard up towards the front. 

Others, like Tao Geoghegan Hart (Trek-Lidl), who crashed with teammate Julian Bernard along with half a dozen other riders in the middle of the pack, were not so fortunate, although the Briton could complete the stage.

The crash split the front group notably, with the leaders down to some 40 riders, but their troubles were not yet over as another rider, Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) went spinning across the deck on a treacherously-wet, sharp left-hander. After a fast, but not excessively tough day’s racing, the three dozen riders ahead were strong enough to crest the summit of the last steep little climb together, only for Decathlon-AG2R to come together in numbers at the front. 

There was time for yet more moments of drama, such as when an Astana rider unclipped his pedal while powering up for the sprint and only some deft bike controlling on his part prevented a third crash in as many kilometres. 

Nothing, it seemed, could stop Lapeira from coming through the centre with impeccable timing, to claim a French victory on Itzulia Basque Country’s one stage this year on French soil.

Another day of typically-rugged terrain on stage 3 on Wednesday likely makes it another good day for the breakaways or small bunch sprints. The main challenge is a cat 2 climb of Lizarrusti, peaking out 19 kilometres from the finish at Altasu. The race's crunch stages, though, are yet to come.

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