After a time trial where only Roglic raised his hand among the contenders for the final crown, the peloton gathered for the second stage of the Vuelta, from Cascais to Ourém, kilometres with hardly any hills – Alto do Lagoa at the start and Alto do Batalha past the halfway point -, always beautiful Portugal, dotted with greenery and churches, bathed by the Atlantic that colours the Algarve, passing through the town of the legendary Joaquim Agostinho (the best Portuguese cyclist in history) and ending on a slight slope where the riders licked their lips. sprinterssince there will be few occasions when kidney blows at hypersonic speed will be worth the laurel. There were not too many candidates, because the Vuelta is more than steep, maybe a handful. The winner, an Australian, was just one: Kaden Groves (Alpecin), the same as always. Arms up, a couple of applauses after crossing the checkered flag, smile and pride, victory for the favourite, job done.
The team managers were clear that the stage would be resolved by sprintthat the breakaway could take place but not be completed, as the wind was blowing headlong along the entire route to the point that the cyclists arrived half an hour later than expected. So, even if the finish was close to Fátima, there would be no miracle that would work, nor would there be a peloton that would allow it, as each team would be concerned with sending their cannonballs into the fight for glory. This was the case for Visma with Van Aert and, above all, for Alpecin, which has Groves, winner of three stages of the previous Vuelta (five in total with this Sunday’s), pure muscle and speed, power and fire in his pedal strokes, a master at showing off his number plate.
“I hope for a sprint “I’m going to be in the end with a full peloton. But I think I’m still the favourite,” the cyclist reflected from Cascais with his aura of a star, with the determination of someone who knows better. However, this was not entirely shared by the Belgian Van Aert, who has been clear-cut since he landed in Portugal, since he is crazy to put on the red jersey, since he has legs for the time trial – he finished third in the opening of the Vuelta – and also for the sprint and, by the way, for the mountains, an all-terrain like few others. His idea, of course, was also to gain stripes before the road gets steep, because if he arrives as leader he will not work for Kuss but for his glory, the one that has so often been taken from him by his kryptonite Van der Poel in cyclocross, in several sprintseven in some classics. “I am looking forward to the stage, we can expect some collaboration from Alpecin to get to the sprint and I have confidence in my team and its strength,” said Van Aert from the bus parking lot before starting to ride. He did not fail either, neither in his prediction nor in his lead.
Van Aert’s feeling was a done deal, as Gesink (Visma) and Vergallito (Alpecin) pulled hard to deprive Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel) and Ibon Ruiz (Kern Pharma) of their hopes, who escaped when the curtain rose on the stage, and who enjoyed a lead of almost five minutes, but were slapped in the face by reality with 52 kilometres to go to the finish, when the peloton absorbed them and explained that from that moment on it would be a nervous race, with everyone worried about getting into positions to launch the sprinters. A fight that intensified in the last 10 kilometres, when the speed was already 60 km/h.
Nobody looked back anymore, everyone with the idea of progressing in the peloton, of getting into a good position, of taking the slipstream and the springboard that would be worth, at least, to dispute the sprint. Alpecin was lamenting, having worked like no other but having to deal with luck, as Vergallito was cut off by a fall while Ballerstedt and Planckaert suffered punctures that disconnected them from the peloton. Van Aert was surprised, as he could not find any accomplices around him. And others were hurt, like Tarling and Narváez (Ineos) and Campenaerts, who crashed into the ground and the ditch. But that was already far from the sprinters. The most hurt was Groves, who was so bothered by the lack of allies, who looked for his way, who took advantage of the spaces, who earned his own, who started after Van Aert and who, Bolt on the bike, arrived first to the disappointment of Van Aert. Although not so much, because the red jersey is his, the new leader of the Vuelta.
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