Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) won the bunch sprint at the end of stage two of the 2017 Vuelta a Burgos in Spain on Wednesday.
The Italian made up for the disappointment of fading in the finale on the previous day’s stage to take a hard-fought victory. It’s his first victory of the 2017 season.
British sprinter Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue) finished second, with Tim Ariesen (Roompot Nederlandse Loterij) in third.
Stage one winner Mikel Landa (Team Sky) finished safely in the bunch to retain the overall race lead ahead of Sergey Chernetskiy (Astana) at two seconds, with Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) in third at three seconds.
>>> Mikel Landa wins Vuelta a Burgos opening stage
Just as he did on the opening stage, Ben King (Dimension Data) put himself into the day’s escape group to claim all of the day’s intermediate sprint points for the blue jersey.
King joined the break alongside Lluís Más (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Alexandre Pichot (Direct Energie), Juan Osorio (Manzana Postobon), Daniel Diaz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Sjoerd Van Ginneken (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) and Ibai Salas (Burgos-BH).
The seven were allowed the almost regulation three and a half minutes by the peloton, led by Landa’s team Sky squad and a selection of riders from interested sprinters’ teams.
Watch: Vuelta a España 2017 essential guide
By 20km to go, the break’s advantage had dipped to under a minute, and they were in clear view of the bunch as they rode along the straight roads in the region. Sure enough, the break was caught with 8.5km to go as Sky resumed their position at the front of the bunch to keep Landa safely out of the way of any crashes.
Gianni Moscon (Team Sky) made the most of Sky’s position by attacking into the final 3km, although his move was shut down pretty swiftly by Quick-Step Floors and Roompot riders.
Trentin opened up his sprint early leaving himself with a huge effort, but in the end only Blythe was able to keep on terms with the Italian.
The UCI 2.1-HC race continues on Thursday with stage three from Oja Guareña to Picón Blanco, which ends with a climb to 1486 metres altitude that should see the general classification riders battle for placings.
Result
Vuelta a Burgos 2017, stage two: Oña to Belorado, 153km
1. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, in 3-38-54
2. Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
3. Tim Ariesen (Ned) Roompot Nederlandse Loterij
4. Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
5. Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini
6. Raymond Kreder (Ned) Roompot Nederlandse Loterij
7. Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Fortuneo-Oscaro
8. Eduard Prades (Esp) Caja Rural
9. Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
10. Aaron Gate (NZl) Aqua Blue Sport, all same time
General classification after stage two
1. Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Sky, in 7-04-52
2. Sergey Chernetskiy (Rus) Astana, at 2 secs
3. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors, at 3 secs
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Quick-Step Floors, at 5 secs
5. Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini, at 7 secs
6. Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon, at 7 secs
7. Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, at 7 secs
8. Carlos Barbero (Esp) Movistar, at 7 secs
9. Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct Energie, at 7 secs
10. Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Dimension Data, at 7 secs
