Vuelta 2024: Sprint triumph Groves, red jersey for Van Aert

foto: Cor VosKaden Groves sprints to victory in the 2nd stage of Vuelta a España. He outguns Wout van Aert, who finishes in second to moves into the red jersey. Corbin Strong comes hom in third place. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2nd stage 2024 Vuelta

1. Kaden Groves (aus)
2. Wout van Aert (bel) s.t.
3. Corbin Strong (nzl) s.t.
4. Pau Miquel (spa) s.t.
5. Lennert Van Eetvelt (bel) s.t.
6. Pavel Bittner (cze) s.t.
7. Jon Aberasturi (spa) s.t.
8. Aleksandr Vlasov (rus) s.t.
9. Brandon Smith Rivera (col) s.t.
10. Filippo Baroncini (ita) s.t.

GC after stage 2
1. Wout van Aert (bel)
2. Brandon McNulty (usa) + 0.03
3. Mathias Vacek (cze) + 0.05
4. Stefan Küng (swi) + 0.09
5. Edoardo Affini (ita) + 0.11
6. Joshua Tarling (gbr) s.t.
7. Mauro Schmid (swi) + 0.29
8. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 0.30
9. Bruno Armirail (fra) + 0.31
10. João Almeida (por) + 0.32

Race report
Luis Ángel Maté and Ibon Ruiz are La Vuelta’s first attackers. The peloton agrees, and 40-year old Maté wins the KOM sprint at the Alto de Lagoa Azul. The duo opens up a maximum lead of 5 minutes.

The breakaway is reeled in after the intermediate sprint.

Mathias Vacek hits the deck in the run-in to the Alto da Batalha and the number two on GC is forced to chase. Stefan Küng wins the KOM sprint at the summit, while Vacek regains contact in time.

Wout van Aert launches his sprint early, but Kaden Groves comes surging past. The Australian takes the win, the Belgian is the new man in red.

Another interesting read: route 2nd stage 2024 Vuelta.