Romeo breaks Leknessund after grueling stage in Ruta del Sol, Laporte loses leader’s jersey
Iván Romeo has claimed the second stage of the Ruta del Sol. The Spanish champion rode up front for a long time alongside Andreas Leknessund in a grueling race and managed to drop the Norwegian champion in the closing kilometers. Romeo also takes over the leader’s jersey from Christophe Laporte.
On the second day of the Ruta del Sol, the riders faced a treacherous stage. The final obstacle was the Alto de la Malahá (2.6 km at 4.3%), but earlier in the stage the riders also had to tackle the Puerto de la Cabra (25.1 km at 4.6%). The main question was what Visma | Lease a Bike would do. Would they keep things under control for leader Christophe Laporte, who could finish it off in another sprint? Or would they actively shape the race?
As expected, many riders chose to attack in the opening phase. We saw several small breakaways, until just before the Puerto de la Cabra the right move was made. Three riders got away: Josh Burnett (Burgos BH), Ibai Azanza (Equipo Kern Pharma), and José Antonio Prieto (Petrolike). A controlled race? Not quite, because on the second part of the Puerto de la Cabra there was a counterattack from the peloton.
Romeo and Leknessund close the gap
Iván Romeo and Andreas Leknessund bridged across to Burnett, who at that point had already dropped Azanza and Antonio Prieto. So it was again a lead group of three. Behind them the peloton pushed hard, causing the group to thin out significantly. None other than Tom Pidcock split things up. At the summit, he had only a handful of riders on his wheel, including Tim Wellens and Aleksandr Vlasov. Leader Laporte was trailing behind.
After the summit, however, the chase group slowed down, allowing many riders to rejoin. Romeo, Leknessund, and Burnett therefore gained a bit more breathing room; their advantage grew to nearly three minutes. That did not mean the peloton was riding calmly. On the contrary, UAE Emirates XRG and Pinarello-Q36.5 pushed hard over the challenging terrain.
Attackers hold on
As a result, one rider after another was dropped. With thirty kilometers remaining, Laporte was still in a group of about thirty riders, but the Frenchman looked visibly strained. Meanwhile, Burnett faded back and we were left with two leaders. Those two showed no shortage of energy. They kept their gap steady at around two minutes for kilometers. At 25 kilometers to go, Groupama-FDJ United joined the chase.
It helped somewhat, but not enough. Four kilometers from the finish, Leknessund and Romeo still held a minute and 16 seconds. The stage victory would be a duel between the Spanish champion and the Norwegian champion. That battle flared up already two kilometers from the line. Romeo launched an attack, gained a few meters on Leknessund, and then continued to pull away.
Double win for Romeo
Romeo’s acceleration turned out to be decisive. Leknessund never caught back, allowing the Movistar rider to take the stage win. Romeo is also the new leader. The peloton with Laporte – where Alex Aranburu won the sprint ahead of Jan Christen – finished 54 seconds back.
