The final of the 2nd stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes towards Vence will have been disputed and disjointed, but it will have been decided by a small group sprint won by Benoît Cosnefroy. The Décathlon – AG2R La Mondiale actually played the game perfectly by letting their opponents wear out in the last kilometers, particularly in the climb of the Sine, the summit of which was located 3 km from the finish.
At that moment, Ewen Costiou (Arkéa – B & B), survivor of the last breakaway, was putting up resistance at the front of the race. The young Breton had repelled the first offensives, those of Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Post NL) or Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ).
Bardet tried to leave
Costiou was finally swallowed up just over 2 km from the line. Romain Bardet (DSM-Post NL) tried to escape 1.4 km from the finish but the Auvergne climber was also caught a little further away. A sprint should therefore seal the fate of this Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and it was only at that moment that Cosnefroy and his gang decided to show their cards. “I really did a big sprint,” appreciated Cosnefroy at the finish, who opens his account in 2024. I felt good in the finale. I was at the back of the group, but Aurélien Paret-Peintre caught me up superbly and he finished 2nd in the stage. »
Cosnefroy at the same time won the general classification of the event, in the bonus game, 2 seconds ahead of the Italian from Arkéa Vincenzo Albanese and three ahead of his teammate Paret-Peintre. Winner of the 1st stage the day before, Ethan Vernon had jumped very early in the stage and lost any chance of retaining his leader’s jersey.
