Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

February 20, 2019

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 1 – Sanlucar de Barrameda – Alcala de Gazules : 164 km

A notably tougher version of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol starts this Wednesday, with stage 4’s incursion into the mountains of Sierra Nevada all but certain to decide the five-day race. The tougher format also continues to set Spain’s highest-ranked early-season stage race apart from the Volta ao Algarve – the other 2.HC race which runs concurrently with the Ruta del Sol and has a route more to the liking of the Classics specialists.

Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) has made a solid start towards winning a second Vuelta a Andalucia after the Belgian repeated his 2018 victory on the difficult hilltop finish of Alcala de los Gazules.

Wellens launched a powerful counterattack with 120 metres to go, just as a late acceleration by recent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana winner Ion Izagirre (Astana) petered out on the ever-changing cobbled gradients of the finishing ascent.

Thanks to his powerful late acceleration, Wellens crossed the line with a useful five seconds advantage on Astana duo Jakob Fuglsang and Izagirre, whilst Mitchelton-Scott’s Jack Haig came home in fourth in the same time. The remainder of the peloton was shattered by a ferociously fast finale and the tough, kilometre-long, uphill finish in the town in western Andalucia, meaning Wellens has claimed an solid early lead overall.

“Of course I knew the final from last year and I was in a good position at its foot, but the team did very well, too, in the last kilometres” Wellens said after claiming the 25th win of his career.

“I started following wheels at the foot of the climb, but then went for it with 200 metres to go and nobody could come after me.”

The winner of the 2018 Vuelta a Andalucia as well as on the stage to Alcala de los Gazules last year, Wellens has already tasted victory this season, at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, part of the Challenge Mallorca series. However, he went down with a viral infection afterwards, could not train for a week, and said in a team press release on Tuesday that Andalucia’s GC may not be such a big goal in 2019 as it was in 2018.

After such a stunning early performance, though, Wellens may now think again.

How it unfolded

Warm, dry weather greeted the 133-rider peloton as it set off from the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda for a 170-kilometre stage, and it wasn’t long before seven riders attempted an early breakaway.

Michael Van Staeyen (Roompot-Charles), locally born rider Álvaro Cuadros (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Corentin Ermenault (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels), Alessandro Pessot (Bardiani-CSF), Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Unai Cuadrado (Fundación Euskadi) moved ahead despite a fast average speed of 43kmh in the first hour.

Lotto-Soudal, Mitchelton-Scott and Astana kept the seven on a short leash of just over two minutes, and although Samitier attempted a last-ditch effort on the relentlessly rolling terrain, Mitchelton-Scott’s hard work, spearheaded by Esteban Chaves and then Simon Yates on his season debut, saw the last survivor reeled in with 22 kilometres to go.

Some ferociously abrupt accelerations by Bahrain-Merida ground down the peloton and almost caused the bunch to shatter completely at one point. But following a brief truce, Astana then opened up the throttle again as Alcala de los Gazules approached.

Movistar took over at the front with two kilometres to go, with Lotto-Soudal also keeping any late breakaways under control. However, as the road steepened on the final ascent into the village, it was Fuglsang – already a key player Astana’s multiple wins in Spain this season – who ripped the front apart, followed by Haig and with Wellens closely shadowing the two race leaders.

Izagirre tried to go clear at a point where the climb briefly eased before swinging up onto yet more cobbles. But when Wellens surged up on the right hand side of the road, Izagirre had nothing left and the Belgian quickly opened up a gap and soloed across the finish line for his second victory of 2019.

Stage two on Thursday is a lengthy 216 kilometre grind eastwards across the rolling hills of central Andalucia, and it could well end in a bunch sprint. Then Friday’s short hilly stage three time trial – not dis-similar to the one last year where Wellens sealed his victory in the Vuelta a Andalucia, represents the next big challenge for the overall contenders. But the real showdown will come in Saturday’s stage across Sierra Nevada mountains.

Results :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:24:12
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:05
3 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
4 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:09
6 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
8 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
9 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
10 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:13
11 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:14
12 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 0:00:16
13 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:19
15 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21
16 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:22
17 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
18 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:25
21 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:31
22 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
23 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
24 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:33
25 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
27 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
28 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
29 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:36
30 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:37
31 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
32 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:42
33 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
34 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:00:44
35 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:00:46
36 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH 0:00:47
37 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:00:49
38 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:52
39 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:00:54
40 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:55
41 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:59
42 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
43 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
44 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
45 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
46 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
47 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:01
48 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
50 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH
51 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
52 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:05
53 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:15
55 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:18
57 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:01:24
58 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 0:01:27
59 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:01:30
60 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
61 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:40
62 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
63 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
64 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:51
65 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:01:59
66 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:10
67 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
68 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
69 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:02:13
70 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
71 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:15
72 Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:17
73 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:20
74 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:21
75 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
76 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:28
77 Corentin Ermenault (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:02:34
78 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:51
79 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:53
80 Sean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:02:56
81 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:05
82 Nelson Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:10
83 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:13
84 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:18
85 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
86 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:25
87 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:03:27
88 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:42
89 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:56
90 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
91 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:22
92 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:25
93 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:06:30
94 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:06:38
95 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:41
96 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:59
97 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:14
98 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:18
99 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:07:20
100 Moreno Moser (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
101 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:56
102 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:09:26
103 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:09:36
104 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
105 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:09:46
106 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
107 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
108 Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:09:48
109 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:09:51
110 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:10
111 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
112 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
113 Dzmitry Zhyhunou (Blr) Equipo Euskadi 0:10:12
114 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:10:15
115 Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH
116 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:22
117 Marc Fournier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
118 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
119 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:26
120 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
121 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:10:31
122 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:10:33
123 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:48
124 José Fernandes Neves (Por) Burgos-BH 0:12:04
125 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:12:45
126 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:13:42
127 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:13:44
128 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:14:12
129 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:31
DNF Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 4:24:12
2 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:00:05
3 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
4 Jack Haig (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:09
6 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
7 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
8 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
9 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
10 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:13
11 Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:14
12 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) Equipo Euskadi 0:00:16
13 Rafael Valls (Spa) Movistar Team
14 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Gobert 0:00:19
15 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21
16 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:22
17 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
18 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
19 Eduard Prades (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:25
21 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:31
22 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
23 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
24 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:33
25 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
27 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
28 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
29 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:36
30 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:00:37
31 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
32 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:42
33 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot-Charles
34 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:00:44
35 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:00:46
36 Ricardo Augusto Afonso Vilela (Por) Burgos-BH 0:00:47
37 Lars Boom (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:00:49
38 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:52
39 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:00:54
40 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:55
41 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:00:59
42 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
43 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
44 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
45 Joan Bou Company (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
46 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
47 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:01
48 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
49 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
50 Jorge Cubero Galvez (Spa) Burgos-BH
51 Nikolai Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
52 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:01:05
53 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
54 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:15
55 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
56 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:18
57 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:01:24
58 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Movistar Team 0:01:27
59 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:01:30
60 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
61 Daan Olivier (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:40
62 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
63 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
64 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:51
65 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot-Charles 0:01:59
66 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:10
67 Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
68 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
69 Sho Hatsuyama (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane 0:02:13
70 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Lotto Soudal
71 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:02:15
72 Xavier Cañellas Sanchez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:17
73 Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:20
74 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:21
75 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
76 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:02:28
77 Corentin Ermenault (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:02:34
78 Evgeny Shalunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:02:51
79 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:53
80 Sean De Bie (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:02:56
81 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:05
82 Nelson Soto Martinez (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:10
83 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:13
84 Svein Tuft (Can) Rally UHC Cycling 0:03:18
85 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
86 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:25
87 Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:03:27
88 Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:42
89 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:56
90 Aleksei Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo
91 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:22
92 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:25
93 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:06:30
94 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:06:38
95 Grega Bole (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:06:41
96 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:59
97 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:14
98 Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:18
99 Txomin Juaristi Arrieta (Spa) Equipo Euskadi 0:07:20
100 Moreno Moser (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
101 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:56
102 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team 0:09:26
103 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:09:36
104 Ryan Anderson (Can) Rally UHC Cycling
105 Michaël Van Staeyen (Bel) Roompot-Charles 0:09:46
106 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
107 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
108 Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:09:48
109 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH 0:09:51
110 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:10
111 Mattia Viel (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
112 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
113 Dzmitry Zhyhunou (Blr) Equipo Euskadi 0:10:12
114 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:10:15
115 Daniel Lopez Parada (Spa) Burgos-BH
116 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:22
117 Marc Fournier (Fra) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel
118 Emerson Oronte (USA) Rally UHC Cycling
119 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:26
120 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Equipo Euskadi
121 Petr Rikunov (Rus) Gazprom–Rusvelo 0:10:31
122 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally UHC Cycling 0:10:33
123 Bert De Backer (Bel) Vital Concept-B&B Hotel 0:10:48
124 José Fernandes Neves (Por) Burgos-BH 0:12:04
125 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:12:45
126 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:13:42
127 Alessandro Pessot (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:13:44
128 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:14:12
129 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:14:31