Julian Alaphilippe, the darling French rider of the 2019 Tour de France, reclaimed the yellow jersey by winning the second stage of this year’s Tour in Nice on Sunday.
Alaphilippe, who surprisingly wore the maillot jaune for 14 days last year before finishing fifth, broke away with about eight miles left of an unusually early mountain stage. He sprinted away from Swiss Marc Hirschi and Brit Adam Yates in the last 200 meters.
Alaphilippe took the overall lead from stage one winner Alexander Kristoff of Norway. Yates is now in second place, four seconds behind.