MADRID, May 7. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The British cyclist Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) achieved victory this Saturday in the second stage of the Giro d’Italia, a 9.2-kilometre individual time trial in Budapest in which the Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), with a second position three seconds behind the winner, he has managed to maintain his leadership.
The Englishman flew through the streets of the Hungarian capital to conquer, with a time of 11:50, his fifth stage victory in the transalpine round and the second in a time trial after achieving it in the fifth stage of the Paris-Nice 2019.
Van der Poel was the one who managed to get closer to the time of the English runner, something that allows him to retain his pink jersey with 11 seconds of lead precisely on Yates, who sends a serious warning. Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), who finished five seconds behind the winner, moved up to third place overall, 16 seconds behind Van der Poel.
The Belgian Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) opened the urban route through the streets that link Pest and Buda, passing by the Danube before facing a final section of 1,500 meters with 14% ramps, and the Italian Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) set the first major benchmark of the day (12:10).
The German Lennard Kämna (BORA-Hansgrohe) improved his time (12:07) to lead the classification, but Matteo Sobrero (BikeExchange-Jayco) snatched the privileged position (12:03) before the favorites began to emerge.
The first to try it was the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, Giro champion in 2017 and who set a hopeful 9:32 in the only intermediate point -before becoming the first rider to lose 12 minutes with a 11:55-, improved in one second by a Simon Yates who destroyed the previous times to set an unbeatable 11:50 as a reference at the finish line.
Only Van der Poel, dressed in pink, was able to approach the time established by the Englishman, finishing second in a day in which men like Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), now 29 seconds behind in the general classification, or Mikel Landa (Bahrain- Victorious), with a time of 12:23, defended themselves. Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) finished 41 seconds behind Yates.
The transalpine round will continue this Sunday with the celebration of its third stage, still in Hungarian lands, of 201 kilometers between the towns of Kaposvar and Balatonfüred. The route offers slight undulations with a practically flat finish.
–CLASSIFICATIONS.
-Stage.
1. Simon Yates (GBR/BikeExchange-Jayco) 11:50.
2. Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix) at 3.
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED/Jumbo-Visma) 5.
4. Matteo Sobrero (ITA/BikeExchange-Jayco) 13.
5. Ben Tulett (GBR/INEOS Grenadiers) mt
-General.
1. Mathieu van der Poel (NED/Alpecin-Fenix) 4:47:11.
2. Simon Yates (GBR/BikeExchange-Jayco) at 11.
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED/Jumbo-Visma) 16.
4. Matteo Sobrero (ITA/BikeExchange-Jayco) 24.
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED/BORA-hansgrohe) mt
