La Vuelta 2022 – Stage 02 [LAST 20 KM]

August 20, 2022

La Vuelta 2022 – Stage 2 – ‘s-Hertogenbosch – Utrecht : 175,1 km

As the final Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España is seen by many as a last chance saloon for those riders who have failed to hit their seasonal objectives. In reality the race is much more than that, often surpassing the other two three-week races in terms of action and edge-of-your-seat entertainment. This is a race with the steepest summit finishes in professional cycling, the anything-can-happen transitional stages, the unlikeliest breakaway victories and the most fiercely fought GC battles seen anywhere on the racing calendar. While the last three editions of La Vuelta may have been dominated by a single rider, the racing is almost always dramatic and the battle for the red jersey regularly rages until the last few days of the race. The main reason for this is the race’s route, with its truly unpredictable parcours and its anything-can-happen transitional stages. The overall standings are ever-changing, largely due to the fact that the organisers throw in mountainous stages and steep summit finishes throughout the race, rather than solely in the final week.

Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) rescued his season on stage 2 of the Vuelta a España, rediscovering his speed of old to sprint to victory in Utrecht.

The Irishman has had a rough time since being left out of last year’s Tour de France and his first season back at Bora-Hansgrohe has seen him a shadow of his former self, left out of the Tour again and nearly suffering the same fate for this Vuelta.

But he roared back to life and justified his selection with a powerful sprint in Utrecht after a strong and well-timed lead-out from Danny van Poppel.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) hit out early but had to settle for second place, while pre-race favourite Tim Merlier, whose Alpecin-Deceuninck team had marshalled the day’s breakaway in bizarre fashion, started behind Bennett but could never get on terms and finished third.

Race leader Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) did not finish in the main peloton, which became chopped up in the final few kilometres, and so the red jersey passes over to his teammate Mike Teunissen, who placed fourth on the stage.

After Friday’s opening team time trial, the opening road stage was a 175km trip through the Dutch flatlands, with the lack of wind ensuring a bunch finish and a calm day, even if things became messy on the technical run-in to Utrecht.

Ineos had led through the final few bends, before UAE took things up for Pascal Ackermann and then Trek-Segafredo teed up Pedersen, but Van Poppel flew up the middle of the road to slingshot Bennett into the lead.

The 31-year-old opened the taps and outmuscled Pedersen, while Merlier, while boasting the superior results in the past two years, couldn’t think about getting out of the slipstream.

“Danny didn’t deliver me; he launched me,” Bennet said. “He brought me up with speed, then he was kind of ready for me to jump, but I waited a second, and I didn’t know if I’d let my speed drop too much, and I was nervous I wouldn’t get on top of the speed again.

“It’s nice. I knew I’d do it [win a Grand Tour stage] again, it was just a matter of getting the right legs. What I’m really happy about is continuing my pattern of winning at least one stage in every Grand Tour I’ve done since 2018.”

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