After a first day where the riders suffered through terrible conditions, the peloton was allowed a small respite for this second stage of the Tour of Wallonia.  At least the weather followed the script.  However, the parcours, which was much hillier than the previous stage, ended up expectantly being a mass sprint after the 171.4 kilometers covered between Beaufays and Bassenge.  Adding the icing on the birthday cake, Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory) celebrated his 22nd birthday with the stage win.  Jonas Van Genechten, who took part in the final sprint for IAM Cycling, took a respectable 8th place for the stage.

After a good massage, which is essential for his recovery in view of the coming stages, Jonas Van Genechten was realistic when analyzing his day. 

“I am always a little disappointed when I come in 8th place especially when it happens in a relatively small group.  I rode outside myself in order to stay with the best on the last climb.

"Dries Devenyns helped me a lot in the last five kilometers. Then Pirmin Lang took over and placed me especially well once we hit the flamme rouge.  But the pack was not going fast enough, and a wave of stragglers caught back up and we were overrun. I went from 500 meters away, and from that moment I knew it was almost finished for me.  I had to produce my effort from too far out. 

"Sometimes your condition is not the only thing to be considered; it also takes a bit of luck.  You have to be on the safe side of the road when a team decides to launch from behind like that.  I also told Dries Devenyns today that he could counter-attack when the Europcar rider attacked. I wanted to give him a chance.”

For Kjell Carlström and Thierry Marichal, the directeurs sportifs for the Tour de Wallonie, some small details needed to be resolved on the stage. 

“Before the start, we expected a pretty eventful race from BMC since they had laid a little trap for Philippe Gilbert in his own region,” Marichal explained.  “They actually shook the race up.  We said that if Jonas Van Genechten could hang on for the last climb, then we would ride for him.  The sprint did end up happening, but unfortunately, he was a little blocked. 

"When the riders began to wind up their sprints, there was an attack by a Europcar rider, and it was enough to destabilize the situation. Dries Devenyns followed him.  We just missed our chance, and so we missed out on our stage win.  I hope that tomorrow the riders will be able to recover well enough, and that we will be able to be a little more aggressive in our search for the victory.”