Alejandro Valverde (Team Movistar) out sprints Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) to win tumultous stage 2 victory atop Caminito del Rey, Vuelta a Es
A stage officially designated as flat, the Vuelta a España instead served up enough difficulty to upend the overall classification to take the stage. Earlier attacker Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) was third.
A stage officially designated as flat, the Vuelta a España instead served up enough difficulty to upend the overall classification to take the stage. Earlier attacker Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) was third.
How it unfolded
The opening road stage of the Vuelta was officially described as ‘flat’ by the race organisation, but the presence of four categorised climbs, constantly rolling roads and an uphill kick to the line suggested the designation was a rather deceptive one.
The climbing began as soon as the race left Marbella, with the peloton facing into the category 2 Puerto de Ojen in the opening kilometres. Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (EF-Drapac), Pablo Torres (Burgos-BH), Jonathan Lastras (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) and Hector Saez (Euskadi-Murias) pressed clear on the lower slopes of the ascent, and they were granted some early freedom by the peloton, which was being controlled by the BMC team of red jersey Rohan Dennis.
Big time losers today
Simon Yates, Fabio Aru, Rafal Majka, Steven Kruijswijk and Michael Woods were among the riders to come in 8 seconds down on Valverde. Ilnur Zakarin lost 1:01 and Dan Martin conceded 1:15. Adam Yates, Richie Porte and red jersey Rohan Dennis all look set to lose more than 6 minutes.
Top Ten General Classification Standings:
1, Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Team Sky 4:22:40,
2, Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar Team 0:00:14,
3, Wilco Kelderman (Netherland) Team Sunweb 0:00:25,
4, Laurens De Plus (Belgium) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:28,
5, Ion Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:30,
6, Fabio Felline (Italy) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:30,
7, Emanuel Buchmann (Germany) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:32,
8, Tony Gallopin (France) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:33,
9, Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Movistar Team 0:00:33,
10, Bauke Mollema (Netherland) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:35
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