Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2021 – Stage 2 [LAST 10 KM]

May 19, 2021

Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2021 – Stage 2 – Iznájar – Alcalá la Real : 184,8 km

Since its first edition in 1925, the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol has usually fallen at the start of the year and served up an opportunity for pro riders from all over the world to kickstart their road racing seasons with a bang. At 96 years old, the Vuelta a Andalucia is one of the oldest stage races in Spain. It’s also one of the most prestigious and despite only being ranked as a 2.Pro event by the UCI, winning it carries a lot of road racing cred. All you have to do is look at the list of recent winners to understand that this is one of Spain’s biggest multi-day bicycle races! The race often runs for five days, touring much of the mountainous province of Andalucia. The mountain stages in the final few days routinely dictate the race, making it the preserve of world-class climbers and stage racing specialists.

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage 2 of the Ruta del Sol on a viscously steep climb in the final kilometre.

The British rider becomes the new overall leader of the race, after yesterday’s victor Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) was distanced on the climb.

Serrano’s teammate Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) was second behind Hayter eight seconds adrift, having earlier been part of a 10-man group that had gone clear from the peloton on the previous climb.

From that group, Toms Skujins had broken clear on the top of that climb, and approached the last kilometre with what appeared to be a healthy advantage.

But he was undone on what was an extraordinary final kilometre, which featured double-digit gradients and very rough cobbled surfaces, all against the spectacular backdrop of a citadel in Alcala de la Real.

Skujins was reduced almost to walking pace, allowing Hayter to fly past him to take the win.

“I was in quite a good position, with [his teammate] Carlo [Rodriguez] in front after the longer climb,” said Hayter at the finish. “So I just followed. I had to make sure I kept a good position as it would be hard to move up on the cobbles.

“Everyone else around me just blew up. I blew up as well, but I had a gap so I had the motivation to hang on.”

The riders behind reached the finish scattered across the road in dribs and drabs, with Lopez in second at eight seconds down, followed by Sven Erik Bystrom (UAE Team Emirates) at 10 seconds, Hayter’s teammate Rodriguez and Julien Amezgueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) both at 14 seconds, and Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Robert Stannard (BikeExchange) at 18 seconds.

“It was borderline crazy, but that’s bike racing sometimes. I guess it put on a show. It was definitely the hardest part [of the stage] by far.”

How it unfolded

It was another hot day in Andalucia, with temperatures into thigh 20s Celsius.

Despite crashing yesterday, Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) once again got up the road at the start of the stage, to form the day’s five-man break along with Tim Roosen (Jumbo-Visma), Alvaro Cuadros (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Fenix), Aaron van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Antonio Jesus Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi).

Oliveira was out to defend his King of the Mountains jersey, and was allowed to take maximum points on the first of two ascents of the category two Alto de la Hortichuela, crested 65k from the finish.

Disaster struck the break on the descent of that climb when Bayer crashed around a corner, with Van Poucke and Soto also falling in reaction, and Olivera being redirected off-road where he also came down.

That left just Roosen and Cuadros out front, as the fallers were too badly hurt and held up to catch back up, but the pair continued to press on together.

The peloton had brought their lead down to just 1:30 as Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and then Movistar set a pace on the climb, but slowed down again subsequently. It was slow enough for Serrano to take a late comfort break, and grew back up to around 2:45, despite the break’s lack of firepower in light of the crash.

The letting up didn’t last long, however, and soon Movistar and Trek-Segafredo upped the pace again with Equipo Kern Pharma, with the aim both of catching the leading duo and setting their leaders up for the final climb.

As the gap was coming down, there was another crash around 30km from the finish, this time towards the back of the peloton, involving Owen Geleijn (Jumbo-Visma) and Edwin Avila (Burgos-BH).

Roosen and Cuadros had just 20 seconds by the start of the climb, and were shortly caught on the climb 17km from the finish by a peloton now being led by Equipo Kern Pharma.

Some riders were spat out the back on the climb, including yesterday’s runner-up Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo) was the first to attack on the climb, and was joined by two other riders, but Movistar were alert to the danger and brought them back before the top.

It transpired that the Spanish team were setting up Miguel Angel Lopez for an attack, as the Colombian launched himself up the road shortly after the catch was made. There was a scramble among the other GC contenders to follow him, and a group of nine other riders joined him at the front of the race, consisting of: Ilnur Zakarin (Gazprom-RusVelo), Antwan Tolhoek (Jumbo-Visma) and Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo), Jmes Piccoli (Israel-StartUp Nation), Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Equipo Kern Pharma), Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Tsgabu Grmay (BikeExchange)

Of those escapees, Skujins was determined to go clear and made a couple of attacks, and managed to crest the top of the climb with a small gap.

Despite the crash that had occurred here in the break on this same descent earlier in the day Skujins showed no fear going down it, and opened up a significant lead over the chasers.

Once these chasers lost cohesion and began attacking each other, it became clear that their time was up, and they were caught by the peloton just as the brutal final kilometres began.

Lopez nevertheless still had plenty of energy in reserve for the final climb, and succeeded in passing Skujins, but not before Hayter had already launched himself up the road for his stage-winning move.

Results :
1 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 5:04:30
2 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:07
3 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:10
4 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:14
5 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
6 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:17
7 Robert Stannard (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:18
8 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:23
9 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:25
10 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
11 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
12 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
13 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:31
14 Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:33
15 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:35
16 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:00:37
17 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:43
18 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
19 Rune Herregodts (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:51
21 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:55
22 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:56
23 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:00:57
24 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:03
25 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange
26 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Burgos-BH
27 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
28 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:07
29 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:01:18
30 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team BikeExchange 0:01:31
31 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:33
32 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:12
33 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:16
34 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:17
35 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:37
36 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
37 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:02:42
38 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:02:53
39 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:12
40 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:19
41 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:21
42 Julian Mertens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:26
43 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
44 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH
45 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:41
46 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep
47 Edward Anderson (USA) Alpecin-Fenix
48 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:03:46
49 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:03:51
50 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
51 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:54
52 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:57
53 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:04:06
54 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:04:10
55 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:04
56 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:05:32
57 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team BikeExchange
58 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:06:08
59 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:06:44
60 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:06:56
61 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:07:18
62 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:07:22
63 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:07:24
64 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation
65 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Team BikeExchange 0:07:41
66 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:07:58
67 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:08:01
68 Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:09:25
69 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
70 Robbe Ghys (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:09:26
71 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
72 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
73 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team 0:09:37
74 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:51
75 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:11:38
76 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:12:40
77 Jokin Aranburu Arruti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
78 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:13:14
79 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates
80 Tobias Bayer (Aut) Alpecin-Fenix
81 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:13:16
82 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
83 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:13:17
84 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:13:22
85 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:13:23
86 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:13:25
87 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:13:26
88 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
89 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:13:29
90 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:13:34
91 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:13:54
92 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:16:42
93 Edwin Avila Vanegas (Col) Burgos-BH 0:17:35
94 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:17:45
95 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:17:48
96 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
97 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
98 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:17:53
99 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:17:54
100 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
101 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:17:58
102 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:22
103 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
104 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
105 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech 0:18:32
106 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:18:39
107 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:18:45
108 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:18:46
109 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:19:21
110 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:23:20
111 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:23:24

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 8:58:55
2 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:10
3 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:13
4 Jonathan Lastra Martinez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:20
5 Robert Stannard (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:00:21
6 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:25
8 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:28
9 Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
10 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:31
11 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:00:32
12 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:43
13 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:48
14 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:50
15 Rune Herregodts (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
16 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:54
17 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:55
18 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:00:57
19 Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:11
20 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:01:14
21 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
22 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:01:21
23 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:34
24 Tsgabu Grmay (Eth) Team BikeExchange 0:01:41
25 James Piccoli (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:54
26 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:06
27 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:21
28 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:29
29 Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:02:40
30 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team BikeExchange 0:03:01
31 Eddie Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers 0:03:15
32 Dmitrii Strakhov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
33 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:24
34 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:03:25
35 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:37
36 Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:03:46
37 Yevgeniy Gidich (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:49
38 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH
39 Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:01
40 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:04:05
41 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:04:16
42 Carlos Canal Blanco (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:04:18
43 Julian Mertens (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:25
44 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:04:40
45 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:04:43
46 Sergei Chernetskii (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:05:09
47 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:05:25
48 Stijn Steels (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:06:13
49 Edward Anderson (USA) Alpecin-Fenix 0:07:10
50 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:07:22
51 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:07:24
52 Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:07:26
53 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
54 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:37
55 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:07:58
56 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:07
57 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:08:12
58 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:08:14
59 Isaac Canton Serrano (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:08:17
60 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:08:35
61 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:08:50
62 Jack Bauer (NZl) Team BikeExchange 0:09:07
63 Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:09:25
64 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:09:40
65 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:09:42
66 Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:03
67 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team 0:10:25
68 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Alpecin-Fenix 0:10:37
69 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:44
70 Brent Bookwalter (USA) Team BikeExchange 0:11:10
71 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:11:17
72 Yuriy Natarov (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:12:16
73 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team 0:13:01
74 Robbe Ghys (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
75 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:13:16
76 Yousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:13
77 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:14:25
78 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:15:15
79 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:15:21
80 Tobias Bayer (Aut) Alpecin-Fenix 0:15:32
81 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:15:35
82 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz De Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:16:27
83 Jokin Aranburu Arruti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:16:42
84 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:17:01
85 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:17:04
86 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:18:06
87 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:18:16
88 Edwin Avila Vanegas (Col) Burgos-BH 0:18:34
89 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:18:39
90 Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:19:02
91 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:19:19
92 Benjamin Perry (Can) Astana-Premier Tech 0:19:24
93 Rick Zabel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:19:44
94 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Trek-Segafredo 0:20:50
95 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:21:48
96 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:22:24
97 Alvaro Hodeg Chagui (Col) Deceuninck-QuickStep
98 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:38
99 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:22:51
100 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:22:57
101 Alexander Konychev (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:23:10
102 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:23:12
103 Antonio Jesus Soto Guirao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:25:21
104 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:25:37
105 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:26:23
106 Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:27:02
107 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:27:39
108 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:28:20
109 Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates 0:28:27
110 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:30:00
111 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:57:56