Julian Alaphilippe attacked on the short, sharp closing climb of the second stage and held off the closing peloton to take the stage win at the Vuelta a San Juan.
With a bit more than two kilometres to go, Alaphilippe attacked and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) followed him, but almost a kilometre later the French rider of left the other two behind.
Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) was one of the riders that increased the pace in the reduced peloton, but it was not enough to catch Alaphilippe.
“I was really looking to win today. This was a good stage for me and all the team did a good job. I was motivated to finish it off and when I attacked I never imagined I’d stay away to the line, but I did. I’m really happy to start my season with a win,” Alaphilippe explained, playing down talk he is now an overall contender.
“There’s the time trial next, but I’m here to start my season and wanted to win a stage. I’ve done that and so now I’ll take the GC day-by-day. There’s no pressure on me to do well in the general classification. Stage 3 is another day. I’ll try to do my best again. If I get a good result, it’s nice, but if I lose time, it’s no stress. We’ll have other opportunities.”
Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) kept the lead in the general classification and Alaphilippe climbed to the second position.
https://youtu.be/_ZqOzp5VG_g
Vuelta a San Juan 2019 – stage 2 results (Chimbas – Peri Lago Punta Negra):
| 1 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) | 3:08:39 |
| 2 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 3 | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 4 | Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 5 | Daniel Zamora (A.C.A Virgen de Fatima) | ,, |
| 6 | Carlos Barbero (Movistar) | ,, |
| 7 | Richard Carapaz (Movistar) | ,, |
| 8 | Nicolas Tivani (A.C.A Virgen de Fatima) | ,, |
| 9 | Francesco Gavazzi (Androni Giacattoli-Sidermec) | ,, |
| 10 | Hideto Nakane (Nippo-Vini Fantini) | ,, |
Vuelta a San Juan 2019 – general classification after stage 2:
| 1 | Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) | 7:01:32 |
| 2 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) | +03” |
| 3 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | +07” |
| 4 | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | +09” |
| 5 | Miguel Gamero (Peru) | +12” |
| 6 | Ricardo Escuela (A.C.A Virgen de Fatima) | +13” |
| 7 | German Tivani (A.C.A Virgen de Fatima) | ,, |
| 8 | Aleksandr Grigorev (Sporting Tavira) | ,, |
| 9 | Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 10 | Laureano Rosas (Asociacon Civil Mardan) | ,, |
