Tour de Luxembourg 2023: Jenthe Biermans of Arkéa-Samsic wins stage 2 in sprint ahead of Søren Kragh Andersen and Tim van Dijke(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Søren Kragh Andersen of Alpecin-Deceuninck, on left in Blue Points Jersey, sprints next to Tim van Dijke of Jumbo-Visma and stage winner Jenthe Biermans of Arkéa-Samsic(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Jenthe Biermans of Arkéa-Samsic celebrates at finish line as stage 2 winner(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Stage winner Jenthe Biermans of Arkéa-Samsic reacts to victory in Mamer(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Andrea Bagioli (left), finished fifth on stage 2, talks with teammate Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal-QuickStep(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Corbin Strong of Israel-Premier Tech finishes stage 2 in the Yellow leader jersey, but will over the race lead to Søren Kragh Andersen(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The peloton passes through vineyards on a rainy stage 2(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Søren Kragh Andersen of Alpecin-Deceuninck retains the Blue Points Jersey(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Søren Kragh Andersen of Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrates at podium as Yellow leader jersey winner with his son(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-Samsic) outsprinted Søren Kragh Andersen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) to take the second win of his career on stage 2 of the Tour de Luxembourg, coming around the Dane with a surge to the line in the final 25 metres.
Kragh Andersen banged the bars in frustration as he finished runner-up for the second day running, but he did take over the race lead with the bonus seconds gained on the line as stage 1 winner Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) finished way down the pack in 19th.
Strong goes into tomorrow’s queen stage just 2 seconds down on Kragh Andersen’s lead with Alex Aranburu in third a further 6 seconds behind the Dane.
Stage 3 is the hardest of the race, a 168.4km mountain stage from Mertert to Vianden with three ascents of the Montée de Niklosbierg (3.6 km at 7.8%), which should split the GC gaps up ahead of Saturday’s time trial.
“I’m really happy of course, it’s a nice victory. It’s my second this year and my second in my career so it’s been a good year so far,” said Biermans after the stage. “Today was a hard race with the rain and everything in the beginning and in the end the sprint was really hectic.
“In the middle of the race they started re-attacking and I think on the climbs this was good for me because it made the real sprinters more fatigued.”
Biermans and Arkéa-Samsic had clearly earmarked stage 2 as one to go for with the Belgian as he revealed how they had targetted the uphill finale into Mamer.
“We knew before the start this was an excellent sprint for me,” continued Biermans. “The finish was slightly uphill which is what I like and in the end, I timed it perfectly and I’m really happy with this victory.”
Multiple moves were attempted in the first 100km of the longest stage, with a three-rider break of Bastien Tronchon (AG2R Citröen), Luca Van Boven (Bingoal-WB) and Mats Wenzel (Leopard TOGT) eventually getting up the road for the majority of the stage with an advantage as big as three minutes.
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) launched the first attack out of the peloton 54km from the line on an uphill rise before the final categorised climb of the stage, the Montée de Mariendallerhaff.
This quickly melted the leaders’ advantage and forced a response out of Ewan Costiou (Arkéa-Samsic) and Alexis Guerin (Bingoal-WB), knowing that Healy cannot be let go given his ability on the climbs and on the flat as a strong time trialist.
Healy curiously knocked off his effort after forcing the move, leaving only Guerin to continue his effort and bridge across to the original three leaders.
Bora-Hansgrohe fanned across the road on the climbs, blocking any attacks from launching behind to give sprinter Jordi Meeus the best chase of survival, which re-established the break’s advantage to the one-minute mark.
Wenzel dropped himself after extending his time in the KOM jersey and as the remaining escapees hit the finishing circuit into Mamer for the first time, they had just over 50 seconds of a lead and had no chance of staying away.
Once the rain began to pour, EF Education-EasyPost attacked again just after the first passage of the finish was completed through Jonas Rutsch, but Bora were quick to stifle the German’s attack with Israel-Premier Tech finally starting to move race leader Strong into position.
Tudor Pro Cycling dominated the front throughout the final 15km lap with Bora-Hansgrohe disappearing from their position at the head of the race before the attacks started to come out of the bottom of the final descent through Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)
With nothing sticking, a bunch sprint was imminent but the peloton was strung out after a brutal day in the rain and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) was the first to launch his sprint inside the final kilometre.
Kragh Andersen kicked from the pace of the Belgian and looked as though he was going to go one better than on stage one before Biermans produced a final effort in the last 50 metres to catch and pass the Dane, easily winning by the time he celebrated over the line with Tim van Dijke (Jumbo-Visma) in third.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
