Ethias-Tour de Wallonie
Stage 2: Saint-Ghislain - Walcourt
Belgium
Sunday 23 July 2023
179.67 km
Ballerini moves into the points jersey
Davide Ballerini featured again at the business end of the Tour de Wallonie, twenty-four hours after taking second on the opening stage. That result, together with Sunday’s fifth place in Walcourt, made up for a total of 28 points that moved the 28-year-old Italian to the top of the points classification.
The second stage of the race followed the traditional script of a breakaway going clear and establishing a lead of a couple of minutes before the sprinters’ teams upped the tempo with the clear goal of pegging them back before the final kilometers. It was a pretty easy task for the peloton, who made sure everything was back together with ten kilometers to go, paving the way for the lead-out trains. Unfortunately for Davide Ballerini, he was closed near the barriers with 100 meters left and all he could manage was a top five as Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) took the win.
Monday’s stage will be one which promises to bring some changes to the general classification, and that’s thanks to the presence of four classified climbs and a demanding uphill finish in Mont-Saint-Guibert.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
