Victor Lafay won Stage two of the Tour de France in San Sebastian, ending a 15-year wait for the Cofidis team to enjoy victory in their home race.
The Frenchman timed a late attack to perfection as he broke clear of a peloton reduced to just 24 riders, then just hanging on to beat pre-stage favourite Wout Van Aert to the line.
Two-times winner Tadej Pogacar finished third for the second day running, moving up to second in the overall standings, six seconds behind UAE Team Emirates colleague Adam Yates who retained the yellow jersey. Lafay sits fourth 12 seconds down on the leader.
UAE Team Emirates did a huge amount of work almost all day to control a three-man break, with a big turn from Rafal Majka on the final climb of the Jazikibel splitting the peloton to pieces with only two dozen riders able to handle the pace.
Pogacar burst forward to take the bonus seconds at the top of the climb and briefly looked like he might try to attack on the descent with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard on his wheel, but he eventually sat up.
Van Aert covered late attacks from Tom Pidcock and Mattias Jensen on the final run into town, but when Lafay made his move with one kilometre to go a moment’s hesitation proved critical.
“I just looked at the line, and at the numbers at the side of the road, it was 100 metres, 50 metres and eventually I had it,” said Lafay, who became Cofidis' first stage winner on the Tour since Sylvain Chavanel in Montlucon in 2008.
“It’s a little but unbelievable. Yesterday I was frustrated with the finish. It’s crazy.
“Today I didn’t like the tempo, the speed was up all day, and I had a bit of a problem with my gut.
“What was sure is that people would attack on that little climb at the finish. I just waited for the moment for the bunch to slow down and I hit it from behind, put it in the aero tuck. There was some hesitation because I’m not here for the GC, just here for the stage.”
Pogacar gained a two-second bonus, added to the eight seconds he earned for being first to the top of the Jaizkibel climb, just ahead of Vingegaard. The Danish rider picked up five seconds there but now trails his big rival by 11 seconds in the overall standings.
British rider Yates, who will wear the yellow jersey once again tomorrow, was happy with the way the team controlled the stage.
“A really hectic day, a lot of stress in the bunch, wet roads and a lot of road furniture. We made it through. We had a little bit of bad luck with Matteo [Trentin] crashing in the corner,” said Yates, who held off the challenge of his twin brother Simon to win Saturday's opening stage.
“We controlled all day, nobody wanted to help us. In the end we set up Tadej for the bonus seconds and in the final, I think we did a good job.
“It all depended on the bonus seconds and the final – if Tadej won the bonus and the stage he would have beaten me, but we kept it with the team.
“It's not easy – for sure we have to control some more days. Tomorrow's a little easier on paper, but you never know with the Tour de France. Every day is super hard, super technical, it's not just easy to go to the finish and keep yellow. We'll see what happens.”
Monday's third stage is a 193.5-km ride from Amorebieta Etxano to Bayonne as the race enters France.
