28th August, 2023: Honours went to Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a Espana as the Dane stayed away on the front to take a fine victory. Attacking on the famous Montjuic hill, Kron held off the chasing pack and secured what will be an emotional triumph, given the death of fellow Lotto Dstny rider Tijl de Decker earlier this week. Kaden Groves came over the line second, ahead of Andrea Vendrame.
Action from CYCLING World Tour 2023 – La Vuelta – Stage 3 – Súria – Arinsal. Andorra LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 19:00 Hrs (07:30 pm IST) onwards on Monday, 28th August, 2023. The Eurosport channel can now be streamed on the discovery+ app.
It was a memorable day for Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) as the Dane soloed to a fine victory on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a Espana in a damp Barcelona.
In a week that saw the tragic death of Tijl de Decker – also part of the Lotto Dstny team – Kron signalled to the heavens as he crossed the line, in what was likely a tribute to the Belgian.
The Danish rider won it with a perfectly timed attack on the steepest part of the final climb of the day, the inner-city Castell de Montjuic. He could be seen as having been assisted, however, by rule changes brought in before the stage. The forecast of storms, similar to those that played havoc in the opening day team time trial, meant organisers agreed to take the general classification times at the foot of Montjuic, at 9.2km from the finish.
Organisational changes were made to the start of the stage as well, with the neutralised roll-out continuing for an additional few kilometres, due to stormy conditions by the coast at Mataro.
The flag drop, when it came, took place on the first categorised climb of the Vuelta, the category 3 Coll de Sant Bartomeu. That allowed, in turn, an easier escape for those riders who were interested. It may not have been the first attack that stuck, but it was the second, as Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost), Matteo Sobrero (Jayco AlUla), Javier Romo (Astana Qazaqstan) and Joal Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) broke away without too much trouble. Soon after that quartet became a quintet thanks to the successful chase of Vuelta perennial, lowlander Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) who apparently had slept through his alarm.
Being only six seconds down on the race lead meant Piccolo was a significant threat to the red jersey-carrying Team DSM, who took up the responsibility for keeping the break within arm’s reach. Their strong efforts on the front of the bunch prevented the lead from going much beyond two minutes at any point on the stage. On the second categorised climb, the inland Coll d’Estanelles, the points were fiercely contested by Romo and Sobrero, with the Italian taking the points needed to level the score in the mountains competition and ultimately claim the polka dot jersey by virtue of his higher placing on the harder climb.
Trouble and trepidation on the descent as 15 punctures were recorded in the peloton, including to GC contenders Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) who was shepherded back to the bunch in his own time. Delays also took the pressure off the breakaway, which was able to pick its lines, find the dry spots and restore their two minute-plus advantage.
The excitement began in the final third of the stage as the race took on the lumpy run-in back to Barcelona. Higher pressure combined with road furniture and tight corners brought about a few crashes, including one involving Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) who slipped on road markings off of a roundabout. Britain’s Oscar Onley (DSM-firmenich) who had been thought a potential stage winner, was the second rider to abandon due to
As the rain started to get harder, the breakaway began to break up 45km from the finish. Bol and Nicolau went backwards, leaving only the WorldTour riders up the road. Sobrero was the next rider to pull the pin. There being two effective finish lines meant Piccolo could set his sights on the red jersey, without needing to take the stage to claim it.
His campaign was aided by Jumbo Visma calling for calm in the peloton behind, and all but preventing an early catch.
The catch came at just the right time for Piccolo and Romo, who had enough of a lead at the steps of Montjuic to go into first and second overall respectively. That was also the point that the main favourites agreed to part company with the stage-hunting teams, who were left to fight it out among themselves.
An immaculate move from Kron on the category three Montjuic climb opened up an immediate lead that none of the others could stay with. He carried clear air over the top and swept down towards the finish, taking risks on the descent which, while drying, was still damp and patchy.
Under the flamme rouge, the remaining chasers of 30 or so riders were a long way back and left sprinting for minor places. Despite the enormous effort he had made, Kron was able to cross the line, and cross himself while looking up towards the sky.
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was the best of the rest as he managed to grab six bonus seconds on the line ahead of Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroen), who took four seconds.
The 22 year-old Piccolo will wear the red leader’s jersey on Stage 3, with an 11-second lead over Romo. Piccolo is also the new leader of the young riders’ competition with Romo, 24, wearing the white jersey on his behalf. Kron now leads the points competition outright thanks to his victory on the stage.
