Crossing the bungee suspension bridge near Niouc with a 200-meter drop to the valley floor is today's highlight for most riders and for some the biggest challenge of the day. The top teams have no problems with this. The German Jochen Käss from Team Centurion-Vaude is able to largely overcome his slump from yesterday and rides to stage victory together with his Austrian team colleague Daniel Geismayr in 3:30.00 hours and with a lot of fun. The lead is also enough to take the leader's jersey.

Swiss riders Konny Looser and Oliver Zurbrügg from the BiXS Pro Team had a tougher time today. They rode at the front for a long time, but their legs were just a little too heavy on the last climb and they ultimately had to abandon. They finished third on the day and are now in second place in the overall standings, just two minutes behind the leaders. Second place on the day went to the Austrian-Swiss team Texpa-Simplon with Christoph Soukup and Michael Stünzi, who thus defended their third place overall. Just one minute behind the BiXS-Pro team, the two remain very close. With these small gaps for a stage race, the battle at the top among the three leading teams remains very exciting and is still far from being decided.

In the women's race, Switzerland's Esther Süss and Sweden's Jennie Stenerhag from Team Meerendal-CBC were able to extend their lead today. They cross the finish line after 4:20.00 hours, but only a good three minutes ahead of Switzerland's Ariane Lüthi and Belgium's Alice Pirard from Team Spur-Wallonie. Lüthi and Pirard had to contend with technical problems and a fall along the way. Behind them, Swiss riders Cornelia Hug and Florence Darbellay from Team Scott-Womens-R'adys are holding on to third place.

Belgians continue to build in the flow

As expected, Frans Claes and Michiel van Aelbroeck from the "Multitask Industries - Optiek Mertens" team took another victory in the flow race and are now more than 50 minutes ahead of the "Flying Rotor" team with René Wildhaber and Alex Fiva in the overall classification. Third place in the men's category also remains unchanged: the duo of Philipp Imdorf and Roman Rohrer (Team PoliBau - Zurich Insurance) are now just under an hour behind the leaders Claes/van Aelbroeck.

In the women's and mixed category, the "Peskindol - Vojo Mag" team wins again, again just ahead of the Australian duo of John Laughlin and Jodie Willett (Team Flight Center - Bike Rite). The teams "Schwalbe" with Felix Schäfermeier and Cristina Dähler and "Gehrig Twins - Ibis Cycles Enduro Team" with Anita and Carolin Gehrig fought a close battle for the last remaining podium place. Team Schwalbe came out on top. In the overall standings, however, the classification remains unchanged.

Full results 2nd stage
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