Tour of the Basque Country 2018, Alaphilippe performs the encore
Julien Alaphilippe (Quick Step Floors) is the authentic ruler of the 2018 Tour of the Basque Country. The Frenchman, in facts, achieved the success on stage 2 after having took the victory on stage 1. For the second day in a row Primoz Roglic (Lotto Nl – Jumbo) needs to accept the runner-up role and Alaphilippe’s superiority in sprinting but at least proved once again that he is a real competitor for the overall win with a view to the individual time trial on day 4 of racing. Quick Step Floors leader in the Basque stage race won the sprint of four over the Slovenian, Gorka Izagirre (Bahrain – Merida) and Mikel Landa (Movistar). The four leaders attacked on the climb leading to San Pelaio KOM with over 7 kilometers remaining and held theirselves in the front of the race until they fought for the sprint in Bermeo after 166,7 kilometers from the start. Patrick Konrad of Bora – hansgrohe took the chasing group’s sprint over Eduard Prades (Euskadi – Murias): the chase crossed the finish line 15 seconds after the leading quartet. Julien Alaphilippe of course holds on his shoulders the overall lead after two days of racing.
Tour of the Basque Country Stage 1 Results
1 ALAPHILIPPE Julian Quick-Step Floors 4:11:47
2 ROGLIC Primoz Team LottoNL-Jumbo ,,
3 IZAGIRRE Gorka Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team ,,
4 LANDA Mikel Movistar Team ,,
5 KONRAD Patrick BORA – hansgrohe + 0:15
6 PRADES Eduard Euskadi – Murias ,,
7 BILBAO Pello Astana Pro Team ,,
8 MOLARD Rudy Groupama – FDJ ,,
9 MAS Enric Quick-Step Floors ,,
10 IZAGIRRE Ion Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team ,,
Tour of the Basque Country 2018 General Classification
1 ALAPHILIPPE Julian Quick-Step Floors 8:29:13
2 ROGLIC Primoz Team LottoNL-Jumbo + 0:08
3 IZAGIRRE Gorka Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team + 0:39
4 LANDA Mikel Movistar Team + 0:43
5 BILBAO Pello Astana Pro Team + 0:54
6 KONRAD Patrick BORA – hansgrohe + 0:58
7 MAS Enric Quick-Step Floors ,,
8 BUCHMANN Emanuel BORA – hansgrohe ,,
9 MOLARD Rudy Groupama – FDJ ,,
10 BARDET Romain AG2R La Mondiale ,,