Nairo Quintana won the first individual stage of the Vuelta a Espana in Calpe on Sunday after he escaped a star-studded six-man breakaway group in the last three kilometres to clinch victory.
“It’s special, I’ve never won like this before. This is a first,” Quintana, who won the race in 2016, told the TV cameras immediately after the finish. “I needed it and so did the team. We worked in good harmony and did a good job.”
Quintana was chased across the line by Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) who took the overall lead after two days of racing.
The Irishman also wore the red jersey of Vuelta leader for one day in 2013.
“I am delighted, I have no words,” said Roche.
He added that he wanted keep the leader’s jersey “as long as possible.”
“But the last time I said that, it only lasted one day. I hope that this time I can have it a little longer,” he said.
After opening with a short team trial on Saturday, the Vuelta took to the hills with a 199.6km run inland from Benidorm to Calpe that included several sharp climbs.
Quintana and Rigoberto Uran were part a powerful group that escaped on the final climb, 25 kilometres out. The Movistar rider accelerated clear on a small climb with three kilometres left.
As the other five riders hesitated, he built enough of a lead to survive when a couple finally gave chase. He crossed the line five seconds ahead of Roche.
Primoz Roglic, trying to regain time after his Jumbo-Visma team’s mass crash on the first stage, was third.
The main pack, including Miguel Angel Lopez, the Colombian who started the day in the overall lead, finished 37 seconds behind.
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – stage 2 results (Benidorm – Calpe):
| 1 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | 5:11:17 |
| 2 | Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) | +05” |
| 3 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 5 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 6 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +08” |
| 7 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | +37” |
| 8 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 9 | Alexander Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 10 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | ,, |
| 11 | Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 12 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 13 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 14 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 15 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 16 | Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 17 | Victor De La Parte (CCC) | ,, |
| 18 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 19 | Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 20 | Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +01’36” |
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – general classification after stage 2:
| 1 | Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) | 5:26:12 |
| 2 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +02” |
| 3 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | +08” |
| 4 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +22” |
| 5 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +33” |
| 6 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | +36” |
| 7 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +38” |
| 8 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | +40” |
| 9 | Davide Formolo (Bora-hansgrohe) | +46” |
| 10 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 11 | Victor De La Parte (CCC) | +48” |
| 12 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +49” |
| 13 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +51” |
| 14 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’08” |
| 15 | Alexander Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | +01’10” |
| 16 | Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 17 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | +01’13” |
| 18 | Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) | +01’16” |
| 19 | Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +01’32” |
| 20 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | +01’39” |
