A World Cup start to reduce differences in the Stage 2 of Andorra Epic

The overnight leaders, BUFF Megamo and Cannondale ISB Sport, both added to their Andorra Epic Pyrenees overall advantages, with victories on Stage 2. Doubling up on their opening day success Hans Becking and Wout Alleman now lead the UCI men’s race by 3 minutes and 55 seconds, while Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas extended their UCI women’s competition advantage to 3 minutes and 49 seconds.

Stage 2 of the 2024 Andorra Epic Pyrenees; on Thursday, 4 July goes again for the BUFF Megamo’s men, they keep the yellow, Hans Becking and Wout Alleman, backed up their Stage 1 success with a second stage win. In the battle between the Cannondale ISB Sport teams the advantage tipped further in the favour of Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas, as they added win number two to their tally of stage victories.

Stage 2 featured the first of three remote starts, in the race, after a gondola ride from La Massana to the Pal/Arinsal Ski Resort. The 46-kilometre-long day began with a section of the Andorran Cross-Country World Cup course before climbing to Port de Cabús at 2 327 metres above sea level. In total the course took in 1 310 meters of climbing and a staggering 1 960 meters of descending, including a trail through Vall de Sispony and the iron route, Ruta del Ferro. Unlike on the opening day, it was the descents which provided the key moment of the stage, in the UCI men’s race.

Having distanced the teams who were already further back on the general classification BUFF Megamo and their nearest rivals, Hexatri – Papival, raced to the summit of Port de Cabús together and through the first aid station at the 20 kilometre mark neck-and-neck. Then Becking and Alleman ratcheted up the pressure on Pierre Billaud and Martin Fanger on the ascent to Collada de Muntaner, in anticipation of the difficulty of the descent which followed the col.

“Wout [Alleman] and I felt good today,” Becking smiled. “We tried to put pressure on the other teams and controlled the race by setting the pace. Hexatri – Papival were able to stay with us until the long, technical downhill, were I think they either crashed or had a mechanical. After that we were alone and just tried to go safely to the finish line.”

“It sounds quite easy when I say it like that,” the Dutch Marathon Champion joked. “But it really wasn’t! It was a lot of fun racing the stage with Wout. We enjoyed hurting each other here and there.”

Billaud and Fanger’s misfortune was capitalised upon by both Torpado Kenda Factory and Scott Cala-Bandida too. Diego Rosa and Peeter Pruus enjoyed a good day on the bike, finishing second behind BUFF Megamo, and moving up to third on the general classification in the process. Sergio Mantecon and Jose Maria Sanchez were third on the day, but their consistency over the first two stages, saw them move up to second overall. They are Becking and Alleman’s nearest rivals ahead of the Queen Stage, 3 minutes and 55 seconds behind the men in yellow. Rosa and Pruss are a further 1 minute and 49 seconds back, ahead of ORBEA x Leatt x Speed Company’s Georg Egger and Lukas Baum who have the same time as the Bulls Mavericks, Simon Schneller and Axel Roudil-Cortinat, 6:49 off the lead.

In the UCI women’s race Calderon and Kortekaas proved to be the stronger climbers of the Cannondale ISB Sport teams. They established an advantage on the first climb of the day and extended it on the second, but Meritxell Figueras and Claudia Peretti were able to halve that advantage on the descent through the Vall de Sispony to Anyós. This did not place the women in the orange CIOVITA jerseys under undue pressure however, as they managed to re-extend their advantage over the undulating terrain in the final 10 kilometres of the course.

“We decided to use the same strategy as yesterday, setting a good pace going uphill,” Kortekaas stated. “We did this because we knew the first descent would be difficult and technical, and this was where I struggled. This cost us quite a bit of time. But because we had a good gap starting that descent it wasn’t too stressful. The longer downhill was quite fun and fast, but again we lost a bit of time there because the other team are better technically. In the end we are happy to have gained a bit more time on them ahead of the key stage, tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be long and tough, but we are feeling great and looking forward to it!”

“Tomorrow, I expect to have the most important day of the week, with the high altitude climbing,” Becking foretold. Stage 3 features a 61 kilometre route, which includes 2 290 metres of accumulated ascending and nearly 20 kilometres of racing at over 2 000 meters above sea level. Despite the fact that the climbs are once again poised to be pivotal, the long descents are not to be overlooked. The Mont Màgic DH and Belaxlís DH trails will be thrilling, coming after the long climbs to Funicamp, at the summit of the longest funitel cableway in Europe, and the Coll de I’Estall.

To immerse oneself in action and Pyrenean vistas mountain biking fans can like the Andorra Epic Facebook page or follow @andorra_epic on Instagram. Highlights from the race can also be viewed on the Epic Series YouTube Channel. To find out more visit www.epicseries.com/andorra.