UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
The second stage of La Vuelta 23 was a moderately hilly stage from the town of Mataró which is located in the northeast of Barcelona covering 182 kilometres mostly flat in the hinterland of Catalonia and back to the capital of the region. This was a good possibility for riders who fancied their chances of a breakaway group early on in the stage. There were three climbs to be mastered, two of them category three and one category two climbs and one intermediate sprint, which came after 160 kilometres, towards the end of the day. There would be wearers of the respective jerseys to be determined in this stage.
La Vuelta Stage 2 Report
Contents
Due to the aftermath of yesterday’s rain, some roads were deemed to dangerous for racing and the proper start was thus delayed in order to keep the riders safe. From the word go, a few riders flew off the peloton and tried their luck. They opened up a gap of about two minutes. These five riders were Picolo of Education First Easypost, Romo Oliver of Astana, Beltran of Caja Rural-SegurosRGA, Sobrero of Team Jayco and Bol of Burgos-BH.
The stage was characterized by crashes throughout the day because of rain; Oscar Onley crashed so hard that he abandoned the race with a suspected broken collar bone. With less than 20 kilometres to go, Lorenzo Milesi also crashed but was able to continue.
With eight kilometres to go, the group of escapees were caught and the battle for the stage win began, yet immediately after the final climb, Andreas Kron of Lotto DSTNY took off and proved to strong for the peloton to catch him. He won the stage seven seconds ahead of Kaden Groves and Andrea Vendrame who were 19 seconds behind.
🏰 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 of Montjuïc @andreaskron98 ❤️ For Tijl
#LaVuelta23 📸 @SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/V7Rb5vhagz— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 27, 2023
The Points on the Road
There were several points to be gathered over the course of the stage, mostly over the three climbs of the day, the Coll de Sant Bartomeu (3rd category), Coll d’Estenalles (2nd category) and the climb up to the Castel de Montjuic, another category two climb.
The intermediate sprint came after 163 kilometres, which Andrea Piccolo decided for himself, bagging 20 points ahead of J. Romo Oliver and M. Sobrero.
La Vuelta Stage 2 Top Ten
The Top Ten of today’s stage are
- 1. A. Kron, Lotto DSTNY 4H10’06”
- 2. K. Groves, Alpecin-Deceuninck +19″
- 3. A. Vendrame, AG2R Citroen Team +19″
- 4. A. Bagioli, Soudal Quick-Step +19″
- 5. F. Barcelo Aragon, Caja Rural-SegurosRGA +19″
- 6. I. Garcia Cortina, Movistar Team +19″
- 7. R. Gregoire, Groupama-FDJ +19″
- 8. L. van Eetvelt, Lotto DSTNY +19″
- 9. M. van den Berg, EF Education-Easypost +19″
- 10. K. Goossens, Intermarché-Circus-Wanty +19″
General Classification
After two days of racing, the top ten looks as follows
- 1. A. Piccolo, EF Education-Easypost 4h27’23”
- 2. J. Romo Oliver, Astana +11 seconds
- 3. I. Garcia Cortina, Movistar +13 seconds
- 4. R. Bardet, DSM-Firmenich +13 seconds
- 5. D. Poole, DSM Firmenich + 13 seconds
- 6. N. Oliveira, Movistar +13 seconds
- 7. I. Erviti, Movistar +13 seconds
- 8. E. Mas, Movistar +13 seconds
- 9. E. Rubio Reyes, Movistar +13 seconds
- 10. S. Flynn DSM-Firmenich +13 seconds
For now, a lot of DSM-Firmenich and Movistar riders are in the top which is likely to change over the next days.
The Green Jersey Classification
The best sprinter of the day was the stage winner, Andreas Kron.
- 1. A. Kron, 30pts
- 2. K. Groves, 25pts
- 3. A. Vendrame, 22pts
- 4. A. Piccolo, 20pts
- 5. A. Bagioli, 19pts
- 6. J. Romo Oliver, 17pts
- 7. F. Barcelo Aragon, 17pts
- 8. I. Garcia Cortina, 15pts
- 9. M. Sobrero, 15pts
- 10. R. Gregoire, 13pts
King of the Mountains Classification
- 1. M. Sobrero, 6pts
- 2. J. Romo Oliver, 6pts
- 3. A. Kron, 3pts
- 4. J. Nicolau Beltran, 3pts
- 5. R. Gregoire, 2pts
- 6. M. van den Berg, 1pt
The thrid stage tomorrow will be the first stern test for climbers as the Vuelta visits the Pyrenes and crosses into Andorra.
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
