Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) was victorious on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, as he stormed to a fourth victory of the season for his new team.
After an aggressive day of racing which saw the GC battle kick off with around 80km remaining on the stage, the final was contested between a group of five riders, coming down to a sprint which Pidcock led out, holding the rest at bay with a strong turn of pace at the finish.
Brandon Rivera, of Pidcock’s former team, INEOS Grenadiers, came through in second place, while Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rounded out the podium, finishing in third place for the second consecutive day.
The Frenchman’s consistency was rewarded as he moved into the race lead, supplanting yesterday’s winner Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The Belgian was caught out on the final descent from the day’s main climb and could not bridge back to the head of the race. He slips to fourth place in the GC, with Clément Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) in second overall and Pidcock moving into third.
Speaking immediately after the race, Pidcock said: “Today I stayed calm, I rode smart, and now I’ve won. Yesterday I was not disappointed but I rode stupid, I wasted a lot of energy in the race. I was riding too enthusiastically, which was a mistake on my part, and perhaps being a little bit too confident. So it was a nice reality check yesterday and today, I really raced smart, didn't panic, let the race play out. And in the end it was perfect.
“I know I'm in great shape. Yesterday, I think multiple things, coming from altitude and things it was not really a good day for me. So it's really nice today to get my hands in the air and be up there on GC - still 40 seconds down, but the week is long. You learn more from losing than from winning. It's better to happen yesterday than in a Monument.
“I didn't look so much at the other three stages because I knew the first two were the most important for GC. But this race is so hard, the climbs, and as you see today, we had five guys in the front with a two-minute gap at one point. It's crazy how easily the race can explode. So anything can happen, we'll see.”
How it Unfolded
Stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol was the longest of this year’s race at 133.2km. The day began in the town of Alcaudete, and the peloton headed north to Torredelcampo, via a number of climbs including three ascents of the category 2 Puerto de los Villares.
It was another warm and sunny day in southern Spain and the action began from the flag drop, with a battle for the early break that eventually settled into a group of seven riders, though their advantage over the bunch was short-lived as the climbing began in earnest.
The GC favourites began to exert their authority over proceedings with around 50km remaining. The bunch split and was spread along the road, with a strong group of riders at the head of the race, including Sivakov - in third overall at the start of the day - who had once again been part of the early break. Further back, overall leader Van Gils found himself with work to do.
With the race favourites all over the road Pidcock took matters into his own hands, attacking with 49km remaining, though he was initially unable to drop Van Gils. Van Gils was the next to accelerate in the chasing group, and he and Pidcock vied for position, with Enric Mas (Movistar) just about managing to stick with them. Under the increased pace, the trio rapidly began to close the gap to the front of the race, and as they passed the summit and headed onto the descent, Pidcock attacked once again, bringing Mas with him, but finally distancing Van Gils.
Just as he did in the previous stage, Pidcock used the long descent to his advantage. The Brit made the catch and joined the lead group along with Mas, swelling the group's number to five. The virtual leader on the road was Sivakov, following his third place on stage 1, with Van Gils labouring alone with no teammates 30 seconds behind.
With 26km remaining a chasing group of ten riders caught the yellow jersey. Luckily for Van Gils it included a teammate in the shape of Giovanni Aleotti, who powered past his leader and immediately began to set a ferocious tempo, with the rest of the chasers coming together in a group behind him.
Despite Red Bull rallying for their leader, the gap to the head of the race remained at around 1:45. Van Gils looked set to lose his lead as the five in front stayed clear -despite some apparent conflict over the division of labour within the group, with Pidcock remonstrating with his former teammate Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers) for sitting on.
Heading into the final the gap to Van Gils had crept out to two minutes. With 4km remaining, Mas was first to strike out from the lead group, though his acceleration was immediately neutralised by Pidcock. The tension was high as the group entered the narrow streets of Torredelcampo, and the pace dropped as the quintet began to look at one another, with the chase group behind rapidly closing the gap.
Though both Sivakov and Berthet tried to attack, neither could make their move stick, and it would come down to a sprint for the line, which Pidcock won with relative ease. Van Gils finished 1:10 down on the leaders and dropped out of the race lead heading into stage 3, with Sivakov and UAE taking control.
Results
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