Traditionally, there is a lack of sprinters in Catalonia. It's the same this year. This always gives the fast finishers among the non-sprinters the chance to prove themselves in the mass finishes. The finale after 167 kilometres in Banyoles was one of these. As on the first day, it was uphill, but the finish was much easier than the day before. And so it was the 33-year-old Cort who came out on top ahead of the French neo-pro Noa Isidore (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Francesco Busatto (Alpecin-Premier Tech). Opening winner Dorian Godon (INEOS Grenadiers) was too badly positioned in the final kilometre and only managed fourth place.

Another candidate for the final would have been Henri Uhlig (Alpecin-Premier Tech). But the German, who was well represented by Busatto, crashed ten kilometres before the finish and had to abandon the race.

Cort celebrates perceived home victory

"In Catalonia, there are many stages similar to this one, sprints from smaller groups. That suits me well, which is why I've wanted to come here for many years," said Cort, who was actually celebrating his debut in this race, in the winner's interview. "I'm finally here and I'm really happy about the win. It's a place I know very well. I lived here for many years when I turned pro. I still love coming here for training camps and I've ridden this road a million times on rest days. For me, it's like winning at home," he said of his special victory.

However, he himself harboured doubts at times. "It was a difficult stage. There were a lot of battles for position on the descent. I didn't like that so much, so I was a bit far back. The team kept believing in me and I don't know how they managed it, but Anders Skaarseth brought me from last position to first between KM 3 and 1.5 before the finish."

After his victory, the 35th of his career and the first in just over a year - he won three stages at O Gran Camino in early March, but nothing more after that - Cort is now level with Godon, who will continue to wear the overall leader's jersey. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) is four seconds behind in third.

Tour of Catalonia 2026 - Results of the 2nd stage

>> All information about the Tour of Catalonia 2026

This is how the 2nd stage of the Tour of Catalonia 2026 went

Five breakaways around the mountains jersey holder Baptiste Veistroffer and his team-mate Liam Slock (both Lotto-Intermarché) set off immediately after the start to form the group of the day. The peloton left less than three minutes at most to the leading group.

The short no was then also noticeable. In the hardest climb of the day 30 kilometres before the finish, which remained uncategorised, the group split. Only Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma) continued with the Lotto duo. However, there was already nothing more to take - Veistroffer had won the only mountain classification and the three intermediate sprints of the day. As a result, the Frenchman now also holds the best points collector's jersey as well as the mountains jersey.

15 kilometres before the finish, Uriarte also fell back on a short counter-climb on the now predominantly downhill route. Shortly afterwards, Uhlig crashed in a bend. He was the only one to go down, but this split the peloton into three parts, which only reunited shortly before the finish. The remaining breakaway duo continued and gained a few more kilometres, but it wasn't enough. Veistroffer put his legs up with four kilometres to go and Slock was caught under the devil's cloth.

As a result, there was no real sprint preparation. Instead, those interested in winning the day were predominantly individual fighters without an organised move. Cort proved to be the strongest.