photo credits @ La Vuelta
Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) claimed stage 2 of the Vuelta a Espana today, after he attacked from out of a small group of leaders to easily hold-off any late challengers.
Meanwhile, his teammate Matteo Trentin finished in second place, followed by Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sports) to claim the final spot on the podium.
Today’s victory not only netted the Belgian rider the stage winner, but also moved him up into the overall race lead.
“At the moment I do not realise it. I don’t know what’s happening – it’s really crazy for me,” Lampaert said after the finish.
“During the race we planned that if we could make an echelon, we would try in the last 10km. We went full from last three kilometres, then we were away with Alaphilippe and a few guys in the break. After that, just before the roundabout, they shouted at me, ‘go go go!’ I knew i could ride one kilometer very fast and it worked out.”
Race Highlights
It wasn’t until the final 75 kilometers that today’s stage finally became animated, when a group of about 20 riders eventually rode clear.
However, the breakaway group’s time out front was quickly brought to a close, as they were reined in by the peloton just 6 kilometers later.
Not long after, a train crossing brought the peloton to a monetary halt without incident.
Matteo Trentin (Quick Step) later grab the bonus points in the final intermediate sprint, while Team Sky took over the pace stetting duties – subsequently shattering the peloton with 8 kilometers to go.
With two kilometers remaining, a group of seven riders succeeded in riding clear, while the peloton proceeded to further fall apart from behind.
Lampaert made his winning move during the final kilometer, which proved insurmountable for the chase – wresting the red leader’s jersey from yesterday’s opening stage winner Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing)
Stage 2 Results BEL 1 LAMPAERT, Yves (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) 4:36:13 ITA 2 TRENTIN, Matteo (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) GBR 3 BLYTHE, Adam (AQUA BLUE SPORT) BEL 4 THEUNS, Edward (TREK – SEGAFREDO) ITA 5 MODOLO, Sacha (UAE TEAM EMIRATES) GER 6 SCHWARZMANN, Michael (BORA – HANSGROHE) BEL 7 VAN ASBROECK, Tom (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) ITA 8 OSS, Daniel (BMC RACING) AUT 9 KONRAD, Patrick (BORA – HANSGROHE) ITA 10 NIBALI, Vincenzo (BAHRAIN – MERIDA) COL 11 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA – SCOTT) + 5 AUS 12 CLARKE, Simon (CANNONDALE DRAPAC) COL 13 MOLANO BENAVIDES, Juan Sebastian (MANZANA POSTOBON TEAM) AUT 14 HALLER, Marco (KATUSHA ALPECIN) + 8 ALG 15 REGUIGUI, Youcef (DIMENSION DATA) GBR 16 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) NOR 17 HOELGAARD, Daniel (FDJ) FRA 18 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) ITA 19 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) POR 20 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (UAE TEAM EMIRATES)
General Classification After Stage 2 BEL 1 LAMPAERT, Yves (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) 4:52:07 ITA 2 TRENTIN, Matteo (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 1 ITA 3 OSS, Daniel (BMC RACING) + 3 USA 4 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 17 IRL 5 ROCHE, Nicolas (BMC RACING) AUS 6 DENNIS, Rohan (BMC RACING) FRA 7 ALAPHILIPPE, Julian (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 18 NED 8 KELDERMAN, Wilco (SUNWEB) GBR 9 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 21 NED 10 POELS, Wout (SKY) ESP 11 DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO, David (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) + 23 FRA 12 BARGUIL, Warren (SUNWEB) LUX 13 JUNGELS, Bob (QUICK – STEP FLOORS) NED 14 OOMEN, Sam (SUNWEB) DEN 15 KRAGH ANDERSEN, Søren (SUNWEB) AUT 16 KONRAD, Patrick (BORA – HANSGROHE) + 25 COL 17 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA – SCOTT) + 26 ITA 18 MOSCON, Gianni (SKY) GBR 19 YATES, Adam (ORICA – SCOTT) + 29 POL 20 MAJKA, Rafal (BORA – HANSGROHE) + 33
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