First Grand Tour, first sprint and first victory for Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike)! Making his debut in La Vuelta 26, the young British sprinter wasted no time showing his worth as he left his rivals several bike lengths behind in the uphill sprint in Manosque at the end of stage 2. A couple of weeks after his 21st birthday, Brennan survived a long day (202.1 km from Monaco) and the stage’s many hills to eventually get the better of Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG), who was in the mix in the uphill finale. The Slovenian star first saw Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) threaten his overall leader’s jersey with the bonus seconds he took during the stage. Then he answered a powerful attack by Wout van Aert with 2 kilometres to go. He eventually completed the stage’s top 3, ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), while Hayter was distanced. On day 3, Pogacar will defend La Roja on the first mountain stage of this edition, heading to Font-Romeu.
After the opening ITT won by Tadej Pogacar with the narrowest margin, the peloton ride away from Monaco and head to France with a 202.1 km stage 2 from Monaco to Manosque, in France. The route is rolling, with no less than 3,020 metres of elevation and a slightly rising finale. Can versatile sprinters such as Mads Pedersen (who has already won in Manosque) survive the climbs of the day and battle for victory? Trailing by 9 seconds in the overall standings, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) also eyes the opportunity to take La Roja through bonus seconds.
Hayter on the early move
Koen Bouwman (Jayco AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) are the first attackers to open a gap. Second in the overall standings, Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) sets off in pursuit. He makes it three leaders before Sinuhé Fernandez (Burgos Burpellet BH) joins them to form a four-man breakaway.
Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike rapidly start pulling the bunch to preserve Van Aert’s shot at La Roja. Since Hayter is level on time with Pogacar, he would be more than 10 seconds away in the overall standings if he went through the bonus sprint (km 166.2) in one of the first three positions.
Hayter takes steps towards La Roja
Mads Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek also participate in the chase and the gap settles at around 2 minutes. The winner of the KOM standings of the Giro 2022, Bouwman gets the better of Uriarte atop the cat. 3 ascents of Châteauneuf-Grasse (km 33.2) and Col de Saint-Andrieu (km 92.4) to all but secure the polka dot jersey.
En route to the bonus sprint at Gréoux-les-Bains (km 166.2), Visma-Lease a Bike up the ante. The gap drops to under 12 seconds with 15 kilometres to go to the sprint. Hayter accelerates, drops his breakaway companions and resists all the way to the line to take 6 bonus seconds. Van Aert is second (4’’). If the British rouleur finishes with the same time as the winner, only Tadej Pogacar can edge him at the top of the overall standings.
Van Aert attacks, Brennan finishes
Hayter is reeled in a couple of kilometres later. The peloton fly towards Manosque, with Visma-Lease a Bike intent on making it a hard race ahead of the final gallop. Wout van Aert attacks with 2 kilometres to go. Tadej Pogacar follows the Belgian, and Alessandro Romele (XDS Astana) bridges the gap under the final kilometre banner. The peloton are right behind them and the trio are rapidly caught.
As Van Aert is reeled in, Matthew Brennan pounces. Mads Pedersen tries to resist, but he fades while the young British sprinter takes off to his maiden La Vuelta stage win, in his Grand Tour debut. Behind him, Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious) and Pogacar complete the stage’s top 3 while the bunch explodes. Around 40 riders finish in the same time as Brennan. Hayter is not among them (80th, +31’’). Pogacar retains La Roja with a gap of 9 seconds to Van Aert. Brennan is third overall (+10’’).
