So close again for Arensman as Pellizzari wins stage 2 of the Tour of the Alps

Giulio Pellizzari has won stage two of the Tour of the Alps. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider was too strong in the sprint for Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) and early breakaway survivor Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic PostNL). With the win, Pellizzari takes the race leader's jersey from stage one winner Tommaso Dati.

In Monday's opening stage, Dati had taken both the stage victory and the yellow jersey for Team UKYO, holding off Tom Pidcock in the sprint after Arensman's late solo bid was caught in the final few hundred metres. Tuesday offered the Dutchman another chance on a course that seemed to suit him better — though he still faced serious competition from Pellizzari and defending champion Michael Storer (Tudor). As the race's name suggests, this is a week defined by climbing, and Tuesday was no different. The five-kilometre summit finish at an average of 8% was not the kind of terrain where the GC men could hide.

Despite the presence of the Pillerhöhe (9 km at 6.2%) early in the stage, the opening hour passed without too much drama. A breakaway group of nine riders formed after ten kilometres, but was efficiently held at around four minutes by Team UKYO and Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe in the peloton.

Among the escapees were prolific attacker Davide Bais (Polti VisitMalta), King of the Mountains Emanuel Zangerle (Vorarlberg) — who had been the last man standing from the breakaway the day before — and three riders from the Austrian national team. Picnic PostNL also had Mattia Gaffuri in the move. The full haul of mountain points on the Pillerhöhe went to Bais, though Zangerle added six more points to consolidate his lead in the KOM classification.

On the second categorised climb of the day, the Reschenpass (16 km at 3.3%), Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe received help from INEOS Grenadiers and Tudor in the chase, and the lead group's advantage slowly dwindled. As the final climb approached, the peloton's pace lifted sharply, and the breakaway riders quickly realised their chances of survival were slim.

The nine leaders had barely a minute's gap at the foot of the final climb, and the GC men began readying themselves for the decisive move. Tudor took charge in the peloton and set up Storer, while Arensman was also delivered to the foot of the climb in a good position.

The men around Storer and Arensman pushed hard from the very bottom of the climb, blowing the peloton apart and leaving the door wide open at the back. A small gap quickly formed, and the two leaders found only Lorenzo Finn for company. The 43-year-old Domenico Pozzovivo led the chase group behind. Pellizzari, who had appeared to be poorly positioned, flew smoothly up to the leading trio.

He did not sit in the wheel for long. A sharp acceleration carried him away from his rivals, and Storer — unable to follow — was forced to let both Arensman and Finn go. But all of this was still happening behind the race leaders. A formidable Gaffuri was still out front with two kilometres to go, leading from the breakaway. Meanwhile, Egan Bernal had regrouped and rejoined his teammate Arensman.

Thanks to Bernal's effort, Arensman and young Finn bridged to the leaders with 500 metres to the summit, joining Gaffuri — who was still hanging on from the early break. The pace was not especially high at that point, which allowed Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) to make the crossing from behind.

After Vlasov launched a late attack — which Bernal answered — teammate Pellizzari pounced in the sprint. Arensman could not quite match the Italian and finished second, with a superb Gaffuri completing the podium. Pellizzari now leads the race, while Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe showed their strength in depth by placing three riders in the top six.