Philipsen wins Vuelta 2nd stage
Alpecin's Jasper Philipsen wins the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana, edging out Deceuninck's Fabio Jakobsen and Bike Exchange's Michael Matthews. Jumbo's defending champion Primoz Roglic, meanwhile, retains the overall leader's red jersey while Philipsen takes the green sprint jersey.
Alpecin-Fenix's Jasper Philipsen won a classic mass bunch sprint on the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday, edging out Deceuninck Quick-Step's Fabio Jakobsen and Bike Exchange's Michael Matthews.
Jumbo-Visma's Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic retains the overall leader's red jersey while Philipsen took the green sprint jersey thanks to his sprint-finish win after a 166km flat run from Caleruega to Burgos.
Roglic's key rival Ineos Grenadiers' leader Egan Bernal finished sagely in the bunch as did his key lieutenant Richard Carapaz, who as Olympic road race champion was wearing a gold helmet on Sunday.
The stage two victory means Philipsen rounded out a trio of victories for the second-tier team after Tim Merlier won the first bunch sprint on the Giro d'Italia and on the Tour de France this year.
Dutch runner up Jakobsen can also be happy with his return to form after suffering almost fatal injuries on the Tour of Poland a year ago when crashing into a pole during a bunch sprint and losing all his teeth.
Philipsen beat him by centimeters after gambling on an inside run near the barriers, while Jakobsen went the long way round and just missed out.
Monday's racing is the first summit finish, coming after a rolling run, with sections of the final ascent at 17 percent gradient that will create major gaps in the finishing times.
