A powerful solo burst from Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) clinched victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Romandie on Thursday after a 174.4km rolling run in misty rain from the foothills of the Jura to the edge of Lake Geneva.
When the 25-year-old time-trial specialist made his move, the peloton knew Küng had no chance of taking the overall lead.
The Swiss rider launched his surge from a mini break with 18km to race. He produced a sustained tempo all the way to the line.
Some 59 seconds after Kung raised his arms in victory, Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) edged Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) for second as the peloton went through in a bunch sprint.
“I had a look at the stage profiles and realised this was a good day for me,” Kung said. “I knew that if I had a minute with 20km to go, then I’d have a chance. Of course, you’ve got to get in the right break and then to be able to drop the other guys, have the legs and hold off the peloton, so it’s complicated. But I pulled it off and it’s a great win for me”.
This was Kung’s third career stage win on the Tour of Romandie and his second stage win of the season.
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) finished with the pack and stayed in yellow.
Tour de Romandie 2019 – stage 2 results (Le Locle – Morges):
| 1 | Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) | 4:10:59 |
| 2 | Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) | +59” |
| 3 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 4 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 5 | Elia Viviani (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 6 | Patrick Bevin (CCC) | ,, |
| 7 | Michael Albasini (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 8 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 9 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 10 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
Tour de Romandie 2019 – general classification after stage 2:
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | 8:32:13 |
| 2 | Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) | +10” |
| 3 | David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) | +12” |
| 4 | Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) | +13” |
| 5 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +14” |
| 6 | Felix Großschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) | +15” |
| 7 | Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) | +17” |
| 8 | James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +18” |
| 9 | Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 10 | Winner Anacona (Movistar) | +19” |
