Vuelta a España stage 2: Andreas Kron wins as crashes and rain dominate

Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) took a well-deserved and emotional win on stage 2 of the Vuelta a España.

The Danish climber attacked near the summit of the Alto del Castillo de Monjuic with just under 4km remaining and distanced the remnants of the field on a day that was dominated by terrible conditions and a series of crashes.

The win was an emotional moment for Kron and his teammates after the recent death of U23 rider, Tijl De Decker. The young Belgian died after a collision with a motorist last week.

At the finish in Barcelona a rain-drenched Kron had time to point to the sky as he crossed the line with Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) taking second and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën) completing the top-three.

The stage was overshadowed by disagreements between riders and the race organisers over the safety of the race, and despite an element of concessions made before the start a series of crashes took place with race leader Lorenzo Milesi (Team dsm-firmenich) among those who hit the deck. The Italian lost his red jersey, while Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) also crashed. Breakaway rider Andrea Piccolo (EF-Education EasyPost) was caught before the line but moved into the red leader's jersey.

For Kron, it was the biggest win of his career so far. With the GC neutralised with 9km to go because of the slippery road conditions only a small portion of the peloton decided to contest for the win with Groupama-FDJ setting the pace. All of the genuine GC riders sat up with 9km to go, even with bonus seconds at the top of the final climb and at the finish still up for grabs.

A number of late attacks came on the short but punchy climb but it was Kron who timed his acceleration to perfection, jumping away from an already ragged group of riders with the summit in sight.

On the twisting descent to the line Kron pulled even further clear of the pack.

"The bad weather conditions made for a difficult and dangerous day on the bike but already this morning I believed in this victory," Kron said in a press release issued by his team.

"With the wet roads and also the neutralisation, there would be chances and personally I have worked tremendously hard towards this Vuelta. I had to miss out on the Tour and to come back at this level, with a first stage win in a Grand Tour, means a lot to me. I always said I would dedicate my first win in a Grand Tour to my late mother, but the team is going through a very difficult period at the moment, so I would really like to dedicate this win to Tijl De Decker. My mum will have to wait a bit more, but that second win will hopefully come soon," the stage winner added.

Confusion and chaos runs over

After the anger and frustration following the stage 1 night time finish it would have been appropriate for common sense to prevail when further heavy rain was forecast for Sunday's first road stage. Instead an unhappy compromise between the peloton and officials was reached with GC times nullified with 9km to go but bonus seconds still on offer on the final climb and at the finish.

Luckily for all those involved dry conditions were maintained for most of the race with Javier Romo (Astana Qazaqstan Team), Andrea Piccolo (EF-Education EasyPost), Matteo Sobrero (Team Jayco AlUla), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) forming the early break of the day after the stage left Mataró.

The quintet built up a lead of a handful of minutes as Team dsm-firmenich set about controlling the peloton for their young race leader.

Inside the final 50km the rain began to fall and then intensify with Pelayo Sánchez (Burgos-BH) and Callum Scotson (Team Jayco-AlUla) among the early fallers. A kilometre later, Nicolau and Bol were distanced from the break, while back in the main field nerves began to fray as rain continued to fall.

With 32km to go, another crash took place on a roundabout, this time with Roglič and Thomas both hitting the tarmac. The crashes weren't reserved for just the main field as moments later Piccolo came down. The Italian was back on his bike in no time, while Roglič and Thomas had to rely on the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Dylan van Baarle to force the peloton to slow and wait for them.

After Piccolo made contact with the break, Sobrero was dropped, and the gap to the peloton slipped to under a minute. For Piccolo the important finish line would be at 9km to go and if he could maintain a small lead he would take the leader's jersey.

That task was completed and by the time the final two riders in the break were caught with 8km to go the GC contenders had sat up with Piccolo destined for red.

The final climb saw a number of stage hunters go on the attack but it was Kron who had the freshest legs. The Danish rider's win, coupled with Piccolo's red jersey made for memorable Vuelta moments but for the majority of the riders in this year's race relief will be the overriding feeling after a second day of difficult conditions.

If you head to our Vuelta a España landing page, you will find everything you need to know ahead of the race, including our race preview, the route, start list and individual stage previews. Check it out for all that and more.