BURGOS, SPAIN: Belgian Jasper Philipsen (pix) won stage two of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday by edging the bunch sprint at the end of the flat 166km stage from Caleruega to Burgos as Primoz Roglic maintained his overall lead.
The Alpecin-Fenix rider timed his surge to the finish line perfectly to pass UAE Emirates rider Juan Sebastian Molano, who went too early and was easily caught before finishing fourth.
Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen came second while Australian Michael Matthews was third, all crossing the line in three hours 58 minutes 57 seconds.
Philipsen’s victory completed a hattrick of opening sprint wins in all three grand tours this season for Alpecin-Fenix while the Belgian collected his second Vuelta stage win after taking his first last year.
“It’s incredible,” he said of the team's third successive triumph.
“Yesterday someone put it in our team group chat and for sure it was a dream but I didn’t want to think about it because the chance is always less high than it would be true.
“It just shows how everyone from team is really motivated. It was a team effort and we can be really proud. It was amazing to see all my teammates there and everyone on the front line. I had a lot of support and this is how we can win sprints.”
Reigning champion Roglic finished 33rd but lost no time and kept the leaders’ red jersey after winning Saturday’s individual time trial.
The race enters the mountains for the first time on Monday with a 202km ride from Santo Domingo de Silos to Espinosa de los Monteros and will be a big day for general classification hopefuls like Egan Bernal and Adam Yates in their bid to challenge Roglic for the title. – Reuters
