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Vuelta a Espana 2017: Yves Lampaert into red after stage two win; GC men caught by late splits

Chris Froome up to ninth overall, losing time to Vincenzo Nibali but gaining time on Alberto Contador

Yves Lampaert (QuickStep Floors) won stage two of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana, foiling the sprinters to claim the red jersey as crosswinds hit the peloton late on.

The first road stage saw plenty of nerves, with crosswinds expected, and no breakaway went clear until the bunch was split up in the final eight kilometres.

Lampaert then bolted off the front of the lead group to claim victory, with bonus seconds putting him into the race lead, as team-mate Matteo Trentin finished second, ahead of Britain’s Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) in third.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) was caught behind a late split in the peloton, losing time to Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Johan Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), but a further split behind saw him claim a handful of seconds on Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo).

Yves Lampaert celebrates QuickStep Floors one-two on stage two of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana with team-mate Matteo Trentin (Pic: Sirotti)

With Trek-Segafredo martialling the peloton, there was no room for manoeuvre of the front and no breakaway formed on the 203km stage with the pace high from the off.

The first notable crosswinds hit with 75km still to race, with Jarlinson Pantano setting a fast pace to force a split, but the peloton was back together little more than six kilometres later.

A bad crash, involving a low wall, forced Anass Eit El Abdia (UAE Team Emirates) and Javier Moreno (Bahrain-Merida) to become the first riders to leave this year’s race, but the action otherwise continued unabated.

A level crossing then forced a temporary halt in proceedings, but with the peloton together it had little bearing on the race situation.

Indeed, it took until the final eight kilometres for the peloton to break up – Team Sky and Astana forcing splits.

The main GC riders remained safe in the peloton, however, and a small group jumped clear at the front to contest the stage win with little more than two kilometres to race.

QuickStep had the man advantage, and used it well as Lampaert kicked off the front after passing under the flamme rouge and could not be brought back.

Trentin took second and Blythe – racing his first Grand Tour since the 2013 Giro d’Italia – finished third to claim his best ever Grand Tour stage result.

Chris Froome finished 16th on the day, climbing to ninth overall (Pic: Sirotti)

Further back, tenth-placed Nibali was the only GC contender credited with the same time as the front group, while Chaves also gained a handful of seconds in front of another split.

Froome finished 16th on the day, in the same group as Fabio Aru (Astana) and Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), with another split costing Contador, Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) and Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and red jersey Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing) a further five seconds.

Froome is now up to ninth overall, 21 seconds behind Lampaert, who leads by one second from team-mate Trentin.

Vuelta a Espana 2017: stage two – result

1) Yves Lampaert (BEL) – QuickStep Floors – 4.36.13hrs
2) Matteo Trentin (ITA) – QuickStep Floors – ST
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) – Cannondale-Drapac
8) Daniel Oss (ITA) – BMC Racing
9) Patrick Konrad (AUT) – Bora-hansgrohe
10) Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) – Bahrain-Merida

General classification

1) Yves Lampaert (BEL) – QuickStep Floors – 4.52.07hrs
2) Matteo Trentin (ITA) – QuickStep Floors +1”
3) Daniel Oss (ITA) – BMC Racing +3”
4) Tejay van Garderen (USA) – BMC Racing +17”
5) Nicolas Roche (IRL) – BMC Racing – ST
6) Rohan Dennis (AUS) – BMC Racing
7) Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) – QuickStep Floors +18”
8) Wilco Kelderman (NED) – Team Sunweb – ST
9) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky +21”
10) Wout Poels (NED) – Team Sky – ST

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