Yves Lampaert won stage 2 of Vuelta a Espana 2017 with a sneaky late attack in the final kilometer of the stage. Teammate Matteo Trentin took 2nd place and Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) finished in 3rd position.

The 2nd stage of the Vuelta a Espana took riders on a 200km journey from Nimes, along the coast to the finish in Gruissan. The coastal road, while mostly flat, made for a difficult day as the riders were exposed to the wind which resulted in an extremely nervous day out on the bike.

The threat the wind posed was so real that not a single break was allowed to go clear all stage. It was a constant battle for position as nobody wanted to be caught out if the splits took place. Despite this constant threat, it was only in the final 5km of the 200km stage when the gaps and echelons appeared.

"I can't find words that describe how I feel on this unbelievable day," Lampaert told Roadcycling.com.

"Our ideal scenario was to create an echelon long before the finish, but as this didn't happen we had to opt for our backup plan, which was to try again in the last kilometers. We wanted to deliver Matteo (Trentin) in a perfect position to sprint for the stage win, but once we splintered the peloton and opened a gap in the final kilometer, we improvised a bit as he told me to go, so that's what I did. I am extremely happy our plan worked to perfection," Lampaert added.

"I think we were probably a little bit short coming into the final few kilometer, but I’m still happy with that result as I think we did a great ride," Tour de France champion Chris Froome said following today's stage.

"The guys kept myself and Wout (Poels) right up front pretty much the whole stage so we can't complain about that. There were a few seconds lost to Vincenzo Nibali and Esteban Chaves, but some gained also on Contador and some of the other GC guys so I think we can be happy with that with the mountains tomorrow."

Following today's stage 2, this year's Vuelta general classification is led by Lampaert, followed by Trentin and BMC Racing Team's Daniel Oss.

The peloton will bid welcome to the mountains in Monday's stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana 2017. The 158.5 kilometer route from Prades Conflent Canigo / Molitg-Les-Bains, France to Andorra La Vella features two category 1 climbs and one category 2 climb - a delicate menu for the general classification favorites such as Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Esteban Chaves, Alberto Contador, Rohan Dennis, and the Yates brothers.

2017 Vuelta a Espana - Stage 2 results:
1    Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors       04:36:13
2    Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors         
3    Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport         
4    Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo         
5    Sacha Modolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates         
6    Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe         
7    Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Team Cannondale-Drapac         
8    Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team         
9    Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe         
10    Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

2017 Vuelta a Espana - General classification:
1    Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors       04:52:07    
2    Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors    0:00:01    
3    Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team    0:00:03    
4    Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team    0:00:17    
5    Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team         
6    Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team         
7    Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors    0:00:18    
8    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb         
9    Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky  Pro Cycling    0:00:21    
10    Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky Pro Cycling

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