Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard 2024 Stage 2

February 1, 2024 Protests were cleared and racing finally got underway. It was Matisse Julien, Maximilien Juillard and Jean-Louis Le Ny who kicked off the action to start the breakaway. Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost and Equipo Kern Pharma set the pace in the peloton, bringing the trio back just before the uphill finish. The finishing climb was just under 1KM long with a nine percent average grade. Lidl-Trek charged into climb, working to set up Mads Pedersen. At 500M to go, Rémy Rochas set off on a surprise, long range move. The puncheurs never finched though. Axel Laurance started his sprint first and was able to hold off Pedersen for the win.