Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

February 21, 2019

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2019 – Stage 2 – Sevilla – Torredonjimeno : 216 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.

Matteo Trentin won after what he described as “probably the longest final kilometre ever” in stage two of the Vuelta a Andalucia on Thursday, claiming his second victory of the season and the ninth of 2019 for Mitchelton-Scott.

Trentin narrowly but convincingly beat Danny Van Poppel (Jumbo-Visma) in a seemingly interminable slow-motion sprint in the town of Torredonjimeno in eastern Andalucia. Bahrain-Merida’s Ivan Cortina tried to spring a surprise late attack in a finish, where timing and energy levels counted for as much as technical ability and sprinting strength, and the Spaniard came within just a few metres of taking the win.

He was swamped by the others sprinters at the line and although Van Poppel put in a powerful late surge for second, it was Trentin had the edge and who clinched the victory.

“It was really hard, probably the longest final kilometre ever,” the reigning European Road-Race champion said afterwards.

“It was chaotic because everyone wanted to sit on the front but of course after quite an easy stage today, everybody had the legs to be there. I got boxed in quite a lot on the last corner and Cortina got the jump. I saw he was pretty far away dragging uphill and I timed my sprint the best I could and it was just perfect.”

A long day in the saddle

Trentin’s move came at the end of a six hour, 216 kilometre trek eastwards through the rolling hills of central Andalucia, with little major race action in the first three quarters of the stage to break up the monotony of the never-ending lines of olive trees on each side of the road.

As the bunch eased along at a relatively sleepy 35km/h, Kevin Van Melsen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Alexander Kuilkovskiy (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Mattia Viel (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Umberto Orsini (Bardiani-CSF), Juan Antonio Lopez-Cozar (Basque Country-Murias) and Dimitry Zhyhunou (Team Euskadi) carved out a hefty advantage of seven minutes in the first hour. It was only as their gap moved towards eight minutes that Lotto Soudal, working for race leader and stage 1 Tim Wellens, began to haul the line back in.

The margin between break and bunch tumbled much faster in the final hour when Trentin’s teammates at Mitchelton-Scott, spearheaded by Simon Yates, Mikel Nieve and Esteban Chaves, lined out the bunch. Luis León Sánchez (Astana) who had told one television reporter at the start that he was suffering from a leg injury, was spotted dropping back, one of the more unexpected victims of the high late pace.

After the break had folded completely on the one categorized climb of the day, the long grind of the third category Alto de Porcuna, a gutsy late solo move by Andalucian-born Jorge Cubero (Burgos-BH) helped keep the speed high. But a mass drive by the orange jerseys of Rally Cycling on the far side of the road, as it rose slowly and steadily towards Torredonjimeno, reeled Cubero in with three kilometres to go.

Team Jumbo-Visma then took over from the American squad, yet their attempt to keep matters in hand on the front was foiled by the slow motion sprint finish into Torredonjimeno. The low pace rendered control of the peloton all but impossible and Cortina’s late attack caused further problems.

Just as it seemed Cortina could fend off the best sprinters, Trentin and Euskadi-Murias Enrique Sanz, accelerating side by side in an almost perfectly matched tandem, overhauling the Bahrain-Merida racer in the last 50 metres. When Sanz faded at the finish, Van Poppel blasted past the Spanish sprinter but Trentin was already near the line and took his second victory of the new season.

After Thursday’s transition stage, stage three on Friday will be a short but technical individual time trial through the olive groves of north-eastern Andalucia.

It is 16 kilometres long and with a long, but steady 4.8 kilometre climb in the first third and a nasty kick up at the end. The time trial is very similar in format to last year’s time trial, where Tim Wellens finished eighth and sealed his overall victory in Andalucia. However, Saturday’s brutally hard high mountain stage to Granada will put the ball firmly back in the climbers court.

As for Thursday’s winner, “Tomorrow” – a time trial on Friday – “is easy,” Trentin explained, “then the day after I’m going to die and probably the last day suits me again.”

“I think with Jack [Haig, fourth overall -ed] we need to think a bit about the GC. I will take it easy and then we will see in Granada. We take it day by day.”

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

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