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2017 Vuelta a España Stage 2: Lampaert steals the show and the red jersey

Superb late move from Quick Step earns their Belgian the double triumph

August 20, 2017
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The day after coming second in the 72nd Vuelta a España’s opening team time trial, Quick Step launched a masterful late attack with a trio of riders, one of whom, Belgian Yves Lampaert, took Sunday’s win and seized the red jersey from BMC’s Rohan Dennis. Winds and a general nervousness in the peloton precluded any breakaways and caused for chaos in the final kilometres, with several splits.


The peloton faced a day of possible crosswinds blowing out to sea over a flat 203.4-km course heading southwest in southern France. Unless the winds wreaked havoc, the few sprinters would have their day.


The bunch was much to nervous and attentive to let any breakaway bust loose, and over the first half of the route there was no escape. Trek-Segafredo was prominent at the front. A crash at the 60-km mark took down several riders.

Into the final 70-km, the first cracks showed, with a gap opening and closing just before Chris Froome suffered a mechanical. He was lucky with the timing. Another crash forced the first riders to abandon.

A change of direction at 32-km to go saw Katusha up the pace, and it was pedal to the metal for the next for the next 29-km as Sky also drilled it. Finally, after another change in direction, Lampaert and two teammates scampered off the front. This created a 15-rider group in the lead inside the final two-kilometres.

Belgian national time trial champion Lampaert gunned it inside the red kite and took the impressive victory, his teammate Matteo Trentin runner-up. Lampaert leads Trentin by one-second in the GC.


Vincenzo Nibali was in the Quick Step move and gained eight-seconds on Froome, while Esteban Chaves (Colombia/Orica-Scott) gained three. Several GC men like Romain Bardet and Alberto Contador lost a few seconds on their rivals.

Michael Woods was top Canadian in 56th place, 13-seconds back of Lampaert.

Monday is when the race goes into the mountains–and Andorra–for the first time, with some long Cat. 1 climbs and a Cat. 2 cresting 7-km from the line.

2017 Vuelta a España Stage 2
1) Yves Lampaert (Belgium/Quick Step) 4:36:13
2) Matteo Trentin (Italy/Quick Step) s.t.
3) Adam Blythe (Great Britain/Aqua Blue Sport) s.t.
56) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +0:13
77) Hugo Houle (Canada/AG2R) s.t.
149) Svein Tuft (Canada/Orica-Scott) +1:58

2017 Vuelta a España GC
1) Yves Lampaert (Belgium/Quick Step)
2) Matteo Trentin (Italy/Quick Step) +0:01
3) Daniel Oss (Italy/BMC) +0:03
66) Michael Woods (Canada/Cannondale) +1:03
67) Hugo Houle (Canada/AG2R) s.t.
123) Svein Tuft (Canada/Orica-Scott) +2:25

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