Andreas Kron wins the second stage of the Vuelta, Andrea Piccolo new red jersey

The danger caused by this humidity did not spare the runners, embarked on a rain of falls, including one dragging the winner of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions, Primoz Roglic, to the ground.

Some runners tried to stop the race

Faced with these racing circumstances, the peloton got restless about thirty kilometers from the finish. Several riders, including Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, urged others to stop in protest at the danger of the race.

But other teams, Alpecin-Deceuninck in particular, motivated by the stage victory, did not want to slow down and the stage continued.

Milesi falls 21 km from the finish

The red jersey, Lorenzo Milesi (DSM-Firmenich), fell 21 km from the line, visibly badly hit at the elbow, and abandoned by his teammates, busy protecting Romain Bardet.

In these conditions, the last two resistants in the breakaway, Andrea Piccolo (EF Education Easypost) and Javier Romo (Astana), did well to hold their own against the peloton. Their lead of around twenty seconds, when the times were stopped, allowed the Italian to take the red jersey.

Uncertainty has long hovered over the identity of the new leader because Piccolo, who fell about 30 km from the finish, could have received a penalty after using the suction of a sporting director’s car to return to the breakaway. In the end, the commissioners did not punish him.

The peloton, which immediately caught up with Piccolo and Romo after crossing this first row counting for the general standings, was then considerably reduced on the final circuit of Montjuic, leaving only the riders determined to play the stage between themselves.

Among them, Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) tried his luck in the last difficulty, but he did not manage to extricate himself from the group, finishing 7th in the stage all the same.

Andreas Kron, he placed a decisive attack a hundred meters from the summit of Montjuic, before making a controlled descent towards Barcelona to raise his arms there. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took 2nd place, and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R-Citroën) 3rd.