Results Tour de la Provence 2026 | American win as Matthew Riccitello wins queen stage at Statio de Lure ahead of INEOS' Carlos Rodríguez
Cycling
Matthew Riccitello has started his time with Decathlon CMA CGM Team perfectly and this afternoon he won stage 2 of the Tour de la Provence. The queen stage saw INEOS Grenadiers in control, but the French team ultimately had the strongest rider on the day.
The stage took place as initially planned, despite the very cold conditions at the Station de Lure, a climb of 13.7 kilometers at 6.4% which was covered in snow. The road was cleared in the morning however and this allowed for the riders to go through.
After the start in Forcalquier, a six-rider group was formed containing Diego Pablo Sevilla, Declan Irvine, Mathis Le Berre, Gustav Wang, Baptiste Gillet and Esteban Foucher. The peloton didn't have many issues controlling and then reeling them in, which happened lastly with 12 kilometers to go at the bottom of the final climb. INEOS Grenadiers took over the group and deployed all their weapons to set a blistering pace.
Dorian Godon, Axel Laurance and Andrew August did a significant amount of work, and when Brandon Rivera picked it up only a few riders managed to follow - bringing back memories of the old 'Sky train'. Carlos Rodríguez then launched the expected attack with 3.3 kilometers to go. Initially he went solo off the front however Matthew Riccitello as able to close the gap shortly after. The American did not collaborate and so with the slowing down, both of their teammates Rivera and Aurélien Paret-Peintre respectively began to come closer.
However Rodríguez remained in front and didn't let this happen. Riccitelllo then launched his sprint first and in the very technical finale it was the Decathlon CMA CGM rider who took the sprint over Rodríguez, whilst Rivera rode to third. He will go into the final stage in the race lead, with the overall win quite likely.
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