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Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) was victorious on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, as he stormed to a fourth victory of the season for his new team.
After an aggressive day of racing which saw the GC battle kick off with around 80km remaining on the stage, the final was contested between a group of five riders, coming down to a sprint which Pidcock led out, holding the rest at bay with a strong turn of pace at the finish.
Brandon Rivera, of Pidcock’s former team, INEOS Grenadiers, came through in second place, while Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) rounded out the podium, finishing in third place for the second consecutive day.
The Frenchman’s consistency was rewarded as he moved into the race lead, supplanting yesterday’s winner Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). The Belgian was caught out on the final descent from the day’s main climb and could not bridge back to the head of the race. He slips to fourth place in the GC, with Clément Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) in second overall and Pidcock moving into third.
Speaking immediately after the race, Pidcock said: “Today I stayed calm, I rode smart, and now I’ve won. Yesterday I was not disappointed but I rode stupid, I wasted a lot of energy in the race. I was riding too enthusiastically, which was a mistake on my part, and perhaps being a little bit too confident. So it was a nice reality check yesterday and today, I really raced smart, didn’t panic, let the race play out. And in the end it was perfect.
“I know I’m in great shape. Yesterday, I think multiple things, coming from altitude and things it was not really a good day for me. So it’s really nice today to get my hands in the air and be up there on GC – still 40 seconds down, but the week is long. You learn more from losing than from winning. It’s better to happen yesterday than in a Monument.
“I didn’t look so much at the other three stages…
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