Controversy at Route d'Occitanie: Unibet Rose Rockets handed stage 2 win after Isidore relegation

Noa Isidore of Decathlon CMA CGM won Friday’s second stage in the Route d’Occitanie, but he was later relegated for irregular behaviour in the lead-up to the sprint. Ronan Augé of Unibet Rose Rockets had missed out by a whisker, but was ultimately declared the winner.

The opening stage on Thursday went to Groupama-FDJ talent Thibaud Gruel, who held off Visma | Lease a Bike’s Axel Zingle in Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux. After the finish, there was also notable news about Zingle: he announced that after the race in Occitanie he will undergo surgery on a pelvic artery and then bring his season to an end.

It was therefore up to the team to make something of the race. Visma | Lease a Bike were among the teams that took control in southern France, where the riders would head into the real mountains on Saturday. A Dutch rider was also present in the breakaway, in the shape of Alexander Konijn. He was joined by Belgian Laurens Huys, Colombian Cristian Damian Velez and the French duo of Leandre Huck and Theo Delacroix.

Thanks in part to the hard work of Tim Rex, the escapees never really had any chance of stage success, although Huck thought otherwise. He went solo with 40 kilometres remaining, aiming for the local circuit in Saint-Gaudens, but thanks to the work of Rex and co he too was caught 10 kilometres from the finish.

The high pace also dropped Madis Mikhels of EF, who had finished second on stage one. Gruel and his Groupama-FDJ teammates took full advantage by keeping the pace high in the final five kilometres, while Zingle chose the wheel of his compatriot. Both men, however, launched too early.

Isidore came through from behind, as did Augé. In a one-on-one duel, Isidore got his wheel over the line slightly earlier, but in the run-up to the sprint he had used his elbows. A relegation followed, and so Augé claimed his first professional victory for the Rockets.