Matthew Walls continued British Cycling’s winning streak at the under 23 Giro – colloquially called the Baby Giro – after winning stage two’s bunch sprint.
Walls pipped Italy’s Gregorio Ferri and Kaden Groves (SEG Racing Academy) to the line, with Ethan Hayter (British Cycling) finishing sixth and Brit Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ Continental) in eighth.
Ethan Hayter’s wins in the prologue and on stage one mean he retains the overall lead, with a 14 second advantage over Alexys Brunel (Groupama-FDJ Continental), with Walls moving up to third place on GC, 20 seconds down on his team-mate’s time.
Thirsty work this @giroditaliau23 pic.twitter.com/d3MyYaidbI
— Matt Brammeier (@Mattbrammeier85) June 15, 2019
British Cycling worked hard to control attacks throughout the day to protect Hayter’s lead, who said after the race: “I’m even happier than yesterday as we’ve now taken three wins, as a team we’ve worked really well together and that’s part of the reason we managed to pull it off.”
The stage two win marks Walls’ second victory of 2019, after picking up the win on stage three of A Travers les Hauts de France, born from the former Paris-Arras race, with Walls finishing second overall.
Off the road, Walls is a successful track cyclist, having won numerous European track championships as well as the Omnium at the 2019 national track championships.
The 10-day Baby Giro kicked off on Thursday June 13, with Sunday’s stage three providing a lumpy parcours before stage four’s category one climb summit finish.
The mountains continue throughout the week, with only Thursday’s stage seven providing an opportunity for the sprinters to have a chance of glory.
