Two colours dominated the second stage of the ‘Route of the Sun’: blue, high in the clear skies, and the colours of Bahrain Victorious, high in the day’s results once again.

The day was most notable for the incredible speed ridden by the peloton; faster even than the quickest predictions of the race organisers. This ‘full gas’ attitude from the start in Diezma meant that no breakaway formed until ⅔ of the 156km had already been covered. Bahrain’s Matej Mohorič – reigning Milan-Sanremo champion – was one of a group of 9 to escape, including his former teammate and winner of last year’s Fleche Wallone, Dylan Teuns. As the gap grew quickly to over 2 minutes, it looked likely that those two would fight for the victory, but that was not to be …

Behind, UAE – without a rider up the road – started to pull, and before long the break was just 15 seconds ahead. At that moment, yesterday’s victor, Tadej Pogačar, bridged across and moved to distance his nearest rivals in the GC, Bahrain’s Mikel Landa & Santiago Buitrago. But our dynamic duo were not to be subdued, and soon they too had joined the leaders.

Mohorič was the first to make a move, accelerating on the descent of the Puerto de la Hoya de Charilla. He kept the rest at bay for 6 of the remaining 19k but was caught in the approach to the final test of the day – a viciously steep, cobbled ascent to the 13th century Castillo de Alcalá Real. Only 1100metres, but averaging 9.9% and peaking at 20%, the stones were deep and jagged; this was a brutal denouement.

After the stage the Slovenian reflected on his tactics and how the last part of the stage unfolded:
“The problem was that some of the guys in the break were close in GC so we knew that UAE would keep the gap small and not let the race lead slip. In the end it exploded on the steep climb, the GC group came back to us, and I tried to anticipate in the descent but I couldn’t hold on”

Pogačar and Enric Mas (Movistar) went away as the Fortaleza de la Mota came into view, leaving our co-leaders fighting Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos) for the minor places. It was a fight they won, finishing 3rd & 4th on the day, and leaving Santi in 2nd overall, (48 seconds behind Pogačar), with Mikel just behind. Damiano Caruso crossed the line in 9th, and Jack Haig in 12th, meaning both keep their places in the top 10 overall.

Another strong performance from both the team and individual riders, which gives much hope for the next 3 days. As Mohorič concluded,
“Today we focussed on defending the podium with Mikel and Santiago. The race is far from finished, we’re going well. I hope we can get a stage win before the end and be on the podium on the last day”

Stage 3 between Alcalá de Guadaira and Alcalá de los Gazules is largely flat 161km, but the finish at Alcalá de los Gazules is much like today’s … only steeper!

(All pictures can be used for editorial and non-commercial usages only and are copyright @Sprintcycling @TeamBahrainVictorious)