Marc Soler claimed his first stage victory at stage two of the Vuelta a Espana which finished in Lekunberri today. Photo: Photogomez Sport
Marc Soler of Movistar soloed to victory on stage two of the Vuelta a Espana in Lekunberri after a perfectly timed attack on the descent of the final climb.
The Spaniard – a former Paris-Nice champion – surged on the downhill of the category one Alto de San Miguel de Aralar ascent to create a small gap, which he maintained all the way to the finish.
Overall leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) crossed the line in second, 19 seconds down, to extend his advantage to nine seconds over Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), who placed third on the 151.6km stage.
Richard Carapaz (Ineos) finished in the leading group, but dropped from second to third overall.
The winner of the 2019 Giro d’Italia topped the 9.5km climb first after countering a move by Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) as the leading group neared the summit.
His efforts will see him wear the king of the mountains jersey on tomorrow’s stage, with Roglic heading the points classification.
Willie Smit was the top South African in 58th position, 15:26 off the pace. Stefan de Bod, who is making his Grand Tour debut, is the leading South African on GC in 74th.
Stage two results:
| 1 | Marc Soler | ESP | Team Movistar | 3:47:04 |
| 2 | Primož Roglic | SLV | Team Jumbo Visma | +19 |
| 3 | Dan Martin | IRL | Israel Start-Up Nation | |
| 4 | Richard Carapez | ECU | Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 5 | Alejandro Valverde | ESP | Team Movistar | |
| 6 | Enric Mas | ESP | Team Movistar | |
| 7 | Esteban Chaves | COL | Mitchelton-Scott | |
| 8 | Hugh Carthy | GBR | EF Pro Cycling | |
| 9 | Sepp Kuss | USA | Team Jumbo Visma | |
| 10 | George Bennet | NZL | Team Jumbo Visma |
*Selected
| 58 | Willie Smit | RSA | Burgos-BH | +15:26 |
| 97 | Nic Dlamini | RSA | NTT pro Cycling | +18:44 |
| 107 | Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | |
| 109 | Stefan de Bod | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling |
General classification:
| 1 | Primož Roglic | SLV | Team Jumbo Visma | 8:09:41 |
| 2 | Dan Martin | IRL | Israel Start-Up Nation | +0:09 |
| 3 | Richard Carapez | ECU | Ineos Grenadiers | +0:11 |
| 4 | Esteban Chaves | COL | Mitchelton-Scott | +0:17 |
| 5 | Enric Mas | ESP | Team Movistar | |
| 6 | Hugh Carthy | GBR | EF Pro Cycling | +0:20 |
| 7 | Sepp Kuss | USA | Team Jumbo Visma | +0:26 |
| 8 | George Bennet | NZL | Team Jumbo Visma | +0:56 |
| 9 | Felix Großschartner | AUS | BORA-honsgrohe | +0:59 |
| 10 | Marc Soler | ESP | Team Movistar | +1:04 |
*Selected
| 74 | Stefan de Bod | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | +27:13 |
| 92 | Willie Smit | RSA | Burgos-BH | +30:43 |
| 112 | Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | +33:16 |
| 118 | Nic Dlamini | RSA | NTT Pro Cycling | +34:01 |
