Jonas Vingegaard showcased his resilience and strength as he claimed victory in the mountainous second stage of the Vuelta a España, overcoming a crash on wet roads to outsprint Giulio Ciccone on the final climb to Limone Piemonte in northern Italy.
The Danish rider, who is regarded as the general classification favourite in the absence of Tadej Pogacar, suffered a fall along with several of his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates after rain made the roads treacherous. Vingegaard emerged with a bloodied elbow but quickly rejoined the peloton and stayed focused on the climb ahead. His determination was rewarded as he took the red leader’s jersey at the end of the 159.6km route from Alba.
The day had begun with a breakaway group of Gal Glivar, Jakub Otruba, Liam Slock, and Sinuhe Fernandez, who established a lead of around two minutes over the peloton on the mostly flat early terrain. However, the climbs and a more determined chase effort from the main group eventually reeled them back in during the final ascent.
Conditions played a significant role, with slick roads causing multiple crashes. French rider Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, a past mountains classification winner, was forced to abandon the race following a heavy fall on a descent. Shortly after, Vingegaard was caught up in another incident at a roundabout, but he managed to avoid serious injury.
On the decisive final climb, Visma’s Wilco Kelderman set a strong pace for his leader, while Julien Bernard worked for his Lidl-Trek teammates Ciccone and Andrea Bagioli. With just 600 meters to go, Marc Soler launched a bold attack, but Vingegaard responded decisively, timing his sprint to perfection and crossing the line ahead of Ciccone. David Gaudu finished third, with Egan Bernal of Ineos Grenadiers also in the mix.
Despite finishing far back in 155th, Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen retained the green jersey for the points classification. Vingegaard’s victory not only gave him the stage win but also the overall race lead, confirming his strong form early in the 80th edition of the Vuelta.
This year’s route features eight summit finishes, including the legendary L’Angliru on stage 13, a climb expected to play a decisive role in the general classification. After the Italian opening stages, the race will cross into France before continuing in Spain and concluding with the traditional finish in Madrid.
The third stage will see riders tackle a 139km route from San Maurizio Canavese to Ceres, providing another test of endurance and tactics.
