Cycling: Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen wins at the Col de la Loge on the 2nd stage of the Dauphiné

Magnus Cort Nielsen s’est imposé au sprint devant le groupe des favoris. ANSA – LUCA ZENNARO

Coup double pour le Danois qui prend également le maillot après son succès sur la 2e étape du Dauphiné entre Gannat et le col de la Loge, lundi 3 juin.

Arise from the fog, Magnus Cort Nielsen, at half mast since the start of the year, won the second stage of the Dauphiné at the Col de la Loge on Monday, catching the unfortunate Bruno Armirail at only 150 m from arrival. It's like in a horror film that the Frenchman, the last survivor of the day's escape, was snatched up by the pack, a stone's throw from the line planted on this cross-country skiing site, drowned in a sinister mist at an altitude of 1,300 meters.

Magnus Cort Nielsen prive Bruno Armirail d'un bel exploit ! A l'avant toute la journée, le Français est repris à 200 mètres de la ligne d'arrivée et c'est le Danois qui la franchit en premier pour s'offrir la 2e étape du #Dauphiné #LesRP pic.twitter.com/vsBqLEAsjp

— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) June 3, 2024

Armirail, former French time trial champion, nevertheless believed in it, he who still had a lead of almost thirty seconds at the red flame in a rising false-flat finish. A big roller, he had left his four escape companions (Le Berre, Gregaard, Meurisse, Conca) ten kilometers from the goal to embark on an ambitious raid with the plan of going to conquer 30 years since his first victory in a World Tour event.

The sanction is all the more cruel for the Decathlon-AG2R runner who distinguished himself last year by wearing the leader's pink jersey at the Giro for two days."I knew it was going to be hot but I believed in it until the end. Not many are missing. It's always annoying. After the pink jersey, it would have been nice to also wear yellow. Perhaps at the Tour de France, it will be even better", said the Frenchman, promising to "go back into battle" from Tuesday.

The misfortune of Armirail brought happiness to Magnus Cort Nielsen who loves these stages for punchers and has the means to achieve his ambitions after having already raised his arms in the three great Tours,

Danish cycling is going well

The mustachioed Dane, hidden in the mist until the last moment, sprinted past the group of favorites to win in front of Primoz Roglic, who was well on his legs, and Matteo Jorgenson , the co-leader of the Visma team in the absence of Jonas Vingegaard.'I didn't have my best start to the season, I went through difficult times, without great results. So winning in a race as important as the Dauphiné is truly fabulous", enjoyed Cort Nielsen who this winter joined the young Norwegian team Uno-X, invited on this Dauphiné and for which it is the first victory in the World Tour.

To complete his happiness, he put on the yellow leader's jersey in the relay of his compatriot Mads Pedersen who held on for a long time in an uneven finish not conducive to his sprinter profile, before breaking down in the last kilometers.

Time trial this Wednesday

"Wearing this jersey will be a memorable memory of my career. Danish cycling has been going extremely strong for several years", added Cort Nielsen, 31. On the favorites side, Roglic made a good impression by taking second place. The Bora-Hansgrohe leader is "excited to race with the guys again" after spending a lot of time at the&#39 ;training following his fall at the beginning of April at the Tour of the Basque Country. As for Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso, they also finished in the peloton. For them, Wednesday's time trial will be the first real justice of the peace.

Cort Nielsen at the same time takes the lead in the general classification where he succeeds another Dane, Mads Pedersen.