[ad_1]
Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen won the second stage of Vuelta a España on Sunday, leading the peloton’s sprint at the end of the 166 km flat stage from Caleruega to Burgos while Primoz Roglic maintained his lead in the overall standings.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider timed his climb to the finish line perfectly to pass United Arab Emirates rider Juan Sebastián Molano, who started too early and easily caught before finishing fourth. Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen finished second and Australian Michael Matthews third, all crossing the finish line in 3h 58m 57sec.
Philipsen’s victory rounded off a hat-trick of opening sprint wins in all three grand tours this season for Alpecin-Fenix while the Belgian claimed his second stage victory in the Vuelta after securing his first l ‘ last year.
“It’s amazing,” he said of the team’s third consecutive triumph. “Yesterday someone put it in our team’s group chat and it was of course a dream, but I didn’t want to think about it because the luck is always less than it would be.
“It shows how motivated everyone in the team really is. It was a team effort and we can be very proud. It was amazing to see all my teammates there and everyone on the front line. I had a lot of support and this is how we can win sprints.
Sign up for The Recap, our weekly editor’s picks email.
Defending champion Roglic finished 33rd but wasted no time and retained the leader’s red jersey after winning Saturday’s individual time trial.
The race first enters the mountains on Monday with a 202km journey from Santo Domingo de Silos to Espinosa de los Monteros and will be a big day for overall hopefuls such as Egan Bernal and Adam Yates in their attempt to challenge Roglic for the Title.
Source link
