Wout van Aert thought he had won. Then he thought he had lost. Then, after another look at the photo finish, he was handed the victory after all. It was a regular emotional roller coaster after Stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark on Thursday. Plus, it was a good day for Pier-André Côté (NSN Cycling Team) who finished 23rd. But more importantly, the Gaspé native moves up to fourth overall.

Crazy finish at the Tour of Denmark

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider was declared the winner of Stage 2 of the Tour of Denmark after officials reviewed the sprint finish and determined that his front wheel crossed the line just ahead of Jensen Plowright of Alpecin–Premier Tech. Van Aert already snagged the dub yesterday and wore the blue jersey for the second day of racing from Glyngøre (home of Jonas Vingegaard) to Skive, for a total of 182.9km.

Plowright had originally been announced as the stage winner, right after. But upon closer review Belgian’s perfectly timed bike throw was enough to change the result. That means another win, and more time bonuses for the Belgian after two days of the five-day stage race.

Stage 2

The day’s racing looked destined for another sprint finish, although the race briefly threatened to split apart in the final kilometres. A seven-rider breakaway formed early, featuring five Danish riders,Nikolaj Mengel, Otto Schultz Jølving, Sebastian Nielsen, Aksel Bech Skot-Hansen and Gustav Wang, along with Italy’s Samuele Zoccarato and Sweden’s Hjalmar Klyver.

The break built a fairly decent advantage. But the peloton kept the gap under control before Uno-X Mobility (wearing their cool green Faxe Kondi kit just for this race) helped spark a move at 74 km from the finish. The acceleration created echelons and caught several riders out, including Lidl–Trek’s Jakob Söderqvist, but the group eventually returned to the main bunch.

The finale

With 20 km remaining and the race entering the finishing circuit, the pace lifted again. Nielsen attacked from the break, while Lionel Taminiaux of Lotto–Intermarché and Matias Malmberg bridged across. Taminiaux then pushed clear, but the move never gained enough ground. Toronto’s Ashlin Barry, the Canadian/U.S. citizen who races with an American license for Visma, was also off the front, and a key teammate to van Aert in the finale.

Una cuestión de CENTÍMETROS entre Van Aert y un corredor de Alpecin – Premier Tech: la historia 𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀 𝐋𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐀 😱

Victorión del australiano Jensen Plowright para privar a Wout van Aert de su doblete personal en el Tour de Dinamarca#pndkr26 | #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/98q8UlCjzM

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) July 30, 2026

Alpecin–Premier Tech’s Henri Uhlig made a late attempt to close the gap at 10 km to go, but the peloton was closing quickly. Taminiaux was caught with 6.5 km remaining, setting up the expected bunch sprint.

Van aert goes for it

Visma–Lease a Bike moved into position for Van Aert, who opened the sprint and looked set for a comfortable win. But Plowright came flying up alongside in the final metres, creating a finish so close that even the initial result was overturned.
Toon Aerts of Lotto–Intermarché finished third, while Van Aert now heads into the next stage wearing the leader’s jersey with two victories already on his scorecard. Apart from Barry, there’s ao

Friday’s Stage 3 is from Fredericia to Vejle–it’s a long day, at 202.9km.