Sheehan celebrates too early, Narváez snatches stage 2 win at Tour of Germany; Waerenskjold keeps leader’s jersey

After the prologue and the first stage on day two, the third stage covered 190 kilometers. Just like the day before, it was a flat stage, which meant that the peloton was once again heading for a bunch sprint. Milan undoubtedly set off from Herford with a desire for revenge after finishing second behind Brennan the day before. Before the flat finish in Arnsberg, there were a few short climbs, followed by a first passage over the finish line.

In the early stages, five riders attacked: Vincent Bodet (Picnic PostNL), Emils Liepins (Q36.5), Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty), Vincent Dorn (Bike Aid), and Miguel Heidemann (REMBE | rad-net). The latter two had to let go with 65 kilometers to go. Not much later, an attack came from the peloton. Will Barta (Movistar) wanted to make the jump to the front, but didn't get much further than a minute behind the leading trio. With 39 kilometers to go, the American was caught by the peloton.

At the front of the race, things were also chaotic. On the last obstacle of the day, the Seufzertal climb (1.8 km at 5.9%), Rutsch made his move. On the first passage over the finish line, his two breakaway companions were caught by the peloton, while Rutsch had built up a lead of fifteen seconds. With 18 kilometers to go, it was all over for Rutsch.

At the same time, teammate George Zimmermann crashed. The German champion remained on the ground longer than usual. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was also involved. The peloton could not wait for these riders, as the intermediate sprint was coming up shortly after, where important seconds for the classification were to be gained.

Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) went all out again. The Belgian gained the most seconds (3), with Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) and Laurence Pithie (RedBull-BORA-hansgrohe) in second and third. In the descent, there was another breakaway, with Dutchman Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step) joining in. Together with Jonathan Narvaez (UAE) and Spanish champion Ivan Romeo (Movistar), he set off. Behind the trio, a fractured peloton formed.

The chasing group caught up 9 kilometers from the finish, including Van Poppel, Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Milan, and Brennan. An important move followed with just over 6 kilometers to go: prologue winner Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) accelerated, taking Narvaez and Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) with him. Marius Mayrhofer (Tudor) stayed behind the trio, a few seconds behind.

In the chasing group, Milan decided to go for broke and set off in the chase alone. However, he was too late: the winner would come from the front. Sheehan was the first to sprint, looking sure of victory, but he saw too late that Narvaez was still coming. With his hands in the air, Sheehan was beaten. Waerenskjold was unable to compete for the win, but finished third and is once again the leader in the overall standings.