Sunday’s stage 2 of Vuelta a Espana 2023 was a 181.8-kilometer ride from Mataro to Barcelona. The stage was contested in hilly terrain and featured the Coll d’Estenalles (Category 2) and the Castell de Montjuic climb in Barcelona (Category 3, 0.9 km; 8.7% average incline).

Soudal-QuickStep’s defending Vuelta a Espana Champion Remco Evenepoel behaved childishly after finishing yesterday’s team time trial and again today failed to act as a true champion would have done. Challenging racing conditions – including weather (it is road cycling, not track cycling) is an issue that a real champion does not focus on – a true champion wins no matter what conditions he is exposed to. Yet, spectators were forced to watch a childish Evenepoel complain again before the start of today’s stage 2, instead of focusing his energy on racing and his goal of renewing his Vuelta a Espana champion status in this year’s race.

Tour de France Champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) also acted out before the start of today’s stage, complaining about the weather conditions, failing to appreciate it is road cycling he is participating in, and demanding that race organizer Unipublic neutralized the stage because of the rainy weather conditions. One recalls Andy Schleck who was a poor descender and, therefore, proposed that the Tour de France should not include any descents.

Team DSM’s Lorenzo Milesi wore the red leader jersey in today’s stage 2.

The hostilities started early when a four-man group broke away from the peloton. The group featured Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost), Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-Alula), Javier Romo (Astana Pro Team), and Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Some kilometers later, Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) launched a bold solo attack from the main peloton and bridged the gap to the front group.

The riders passed through beautiful mountain terrain with sculpturally formed mountain sides that were as aesthetically pleasing as the most beautiful paintings. Race organizer Unipublic had chosen a very scenic route that suited the final Grand Tour of the 2023 season to perfection.

With 47 kilometers left of today’s stage it had started raining more and Bol and Nicolau slipped on the road and came off their bikes. Were the teams using all-weather tires? The duo was now playing catch-up with the front trio that had carried on without waiting. Of the riders in front, Piccolo was the best placed rider in the general classification, so he was hoping to take the red race leader jersey by finishing well in today’s stage.

The front trio had a lead of approximately two minutes over the main peloton with 40 kilometers left to contest of today’s stage 2. 

In a roundabout 32 kilometers from the finish, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) crashed together with riders from UAE Team Emirates and Ineos-Grenadiers. Roglic quickly got back on his bike and carried on. 

Piccolo crashed in the front group but returned to racing after switching bikes two times.

With 30 kilometers left, the ever-dominant Jumbo-Visma team once again tried to control the whole peloton when they decided to move to the front of the peloton to slow down everyone and force all other teams and riders to neutralize the stage.

The stage finish profile was not optimal for Vingegaard, so they used the bad weather as a perfect excuse to improve Vingegaard’s overall chances in the race. It is embarrassing for the Jumbo-Visma team to be acting as if they own professional cycling. If the team did not want to compete in today’s stage, they could move to the back of the peloton to make way for teams that did want to make the stage watch worthy for cycling fans around the world.

Piccolo and Romo entered Barcelona together and soldiered on towards the finish line. As the finish time would be taken nine kilometers from the finish due to the complaints from Vingegaard and Evenepoel, it appeared Piccolo would take the red jersey and become the new leader of La Vuelta a Espana 2023 following today’s stage 2.

Approximately 35 riders remained in the main peloton group when they reached the Castell de Montjuic climb in Barcelona. A Cofidis rider launched an attack and Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) countered on the steep slope. While the Cofidis rider was caught by the chasing peloton, Denmark’s Kron carried on solo and built a lead of ten seconds. 

With one kilometer left, Kron was still solo in front. Kron crossed the finish line in solo fashion to take the victory in stage 2 of La Vuelta a Espana 2023.

Kaden Groves finished second for Alpecin-Deceuninck, and AG2R-Citroen’s Andrea Vendrame completed the stage podium. 

In the general classification Piccolo took the lead for his EF Education-EasyPost team. He leads La Vuelta a Espana 2023 in 04:27:23. Romo is in second place, 11 seconds behind Piccolo. Movistar’s Ivan Garcia Cortina is third, 13 seconds behind the Italian leader. Team DSM’s Romain Bardet is in fourth position and will be contemplating aiming for a good result in tomorrow’s stage 3 mountain stage, to take the red leader’s jersey from Piccolo.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for news from La Vuelta a Espana 2023.

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