photo credits @ Saudi Tour
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) took his first pro victory in stage 2 of the Saudi Tour today, outpacing Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) on the hilltop finish at Abu Rakah after the pair had escaped from the peloton in the final kilometer.
Meanwhile, Danish rider Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Pro Cycling) completed the podium at seven-seconds back.
With just over 1.5 kilometers to go, alongside Bagioli and Daniel Oss (TotalEnergies), Buitrago jumped away towards the bottom of the final ramp, with Oss later fading, leaving the duo to battle it out.
The Colombian rider now takes over the race lead from stage 1 winner Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who finished fifth having raced up the climb near the front of the peloton. Heading into stage 3, the gap between the two lies at seven seconds, with Charmig third overall at 13 seconds.
Ewan wears the red jersey as points classification leader after the stage, but will have a chance to take back the race lead via bonus seconds on Thursday with another sprint finish likely.
Race Highlights
The early part of the stage was marked by a three-rider breakaway effort involving Jeroen Meijers (Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team), Polychronis Tzortzakis (Kuwait Pro Cycling Team) and Martin Bugge Urianstad (Uno-X).
From there, the escapees remained out front for most of the day, with the final rider being caught with 12 kilometers to go.
A series of late attacks trimmed down what was left of the peloton, leaving a select few as it hit the bottom of the final climb.
Buitrago bided his time until he was within striking distance of the finish, opening up a slight advantage over his Italian rival as the road flattened during the final few meters to seize the stage honors.
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