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Tour de France virtual. Stage 2. Hugo Houle puts in a strong effort on tough mountain stage
The racing continued today with the second stage of the Tour de France virtual. The Kazakh team put in a great effort, Hugo Houle was the team`s best-placed rider, crossing the line some minutes behind the stage winner.
The second stage of the virtual edition of the Tour de France covered 29.5 kilometers in Watopia Hilly. The course had just one climb but with an average gradient of around 13%, it was a tough one.
The pace was high right from the start, also Manuele Boaro was quite active at the front of the race. As the race faced the ascent of the day, Hugo Houle was together with around 35 riders at the front of the race, putting in a great effort. On the last 5 kilometers Hugo Houle saw himself in a reduced bunch, only some seconds behind the leading group.
The Canadian was Astana´s best-placed rider, finishing the course some minutes down on the winner.
- The stage was really hard and when we came into the climb, it was like an uphill time trial race! I just tried to stay in the group as long as I could. Once you lose the group it’s game over! – Hugo Houle
Stage three will take the riders over 48 kilometers (two laps) with four intermediate sprints and two climbs.
Photo credit: © Getty Images
