French sprinter Bryan Coquard hailed his "biggest victory" after sprinting to the win in a chaotic finale on the second stage of the Tour de Suisse.
The 32-year-old Cofidis rider launched at around 250m to go, catching out Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) and gapping Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), who shipped a chain as he began his sprint.
It was the first win of the year for Coquard, who said he was especially pleased as he'd just returned from a three-week training camp in preparation for the Tour de France.
"I arrived [here] and win today, it's perfect," he said. "It's my biggest victory."
The riders began the day in Vaduz, the capital of neighbouring Lichtenstein, crossing the border back into Switzerland while they were still in the neutral start zone.
A lumpy parcours featuring two cat-two climbs in the first half and a cat-three with around 10km to go took riders 177km across the north-east of the country to finish in Regensdorf.
The lumpy finale meant Coquard had spotted the stage as an ideal opportunity.
"It's a difficult stage with a hard climb just before the final," he said. "I'm a good sprinter but with the big guys it's more difficult for me, but today it was the perfect opportunity.
"We arrived at the final with a little bunch and I did a perfect final with a perfect sprint,"
Good things come to those who wait given this biggest win has come late in his career, it was pointed out to him afterwards, and Coquard agreed.
"Yeah, a lot of times I finished second, in the Tour de France for example – 28mm [behind] Marcel Kittel in Limoges, for example!" he said.
That was in 2016, when Coquard was still eligible for the young rider classification. But his Tour de France preparation is clearly going OK and who knows, perhaps this is the year when he sets a new Tour de France best too.
Yves Lampaert (Soudal Quick-Step) retained his slender GC lead.
How it happened
Just a few kilometres after the start a five-man break featuring Gerben Kuypers (Intermarché-Wanty), Antoine Debons (Corratec-Vini Fantini), Félix Stehli (Switzerland), Luca Jenni (Switzerland), and Roberto Carlos González (Corratec-Vini Fantini).
They unfussily built a lead that peaked at around five minutes mid stage, before slowly decreasing as the race headed towards its hilly denouement.
With 14km to go, the bunch still seemed in no particular hurry to make the catch, with the break retaining a minute's lead out front.
However, at this same moment the break seemed to implode, with Jenni forging ahead as they reached the foot of the cat-three climb of the Regensberg. Despite the Swiss rider's efforts, he was caught around halfway up the 3.5km / 5.7% ascent by a marauding Alpecin-Deceuninck team.
Instigated by Søren Kragh Andersen, the Belgian team's charge saw around 35 riders open a gap on the rest of the race as they descended the far side of the hill with around 10km to go.
It was to no avail, and the race came back together at the foot of the descent with five kilometres to the finish, only to see an immediate and committed attack by Alberto Bettiol of EF Education-EasyPost.
He held the bunch at several seconds as they negotiated road furniture and roundabouts coming into Regensdorf, but at 1.2km the game was up. First one 90-degree turn and then a final one at 300m saw fans holding their breath, and then it was just down to Coquard to do his thing.
Results
Tour de Suisse 2024 stage two results
1. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis, in 4:06:39
2. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco-AlUla
3. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto-Dstny
4. Brandon Smith Rivera (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
5. Rui Costa (Por) EF Education-EasyPost
6. Axel Lawrence (Fra) Alpecin-Deceuninck
7. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
8. Roger Adriá (Spa) Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Francesco Busatto (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty
10. Stevie Williams (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech, all at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Yves Lampaert (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:11:44
2. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +4s
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +7s
4. Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
5. Michael Matthews (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, both at same time
6. Samuel Watson (GBr) Groupama-FDJ, +9s
7. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
8. Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ, +11s
9. Mauro Schmid (Swi) Jayco-AlUla
10. Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Alpecin-Deceuninck, all at same time
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