Place Name: Carretera De Santa Ana
Address: Carretera De Santa Ana, 23640 Torredelcampo, Jaén, Spain
Details: February 20, 2025
It's another difficult day as the route moves further inland into Jaén, home of endless olive groves and the site of the recent Clásica Jaén. It was a nice and sunny start for the riders who were taking on three categorized climbs including the 9KM, 6% climb of Puerto Viejo twice before a rolling finish into Torredelcampo. The sprinters may not appreciate the finale however because the last 1.2KM to the finish averages over 8% so it will likely be a quick puncheur who makes a mark today.
The race would be ripped to pieces from the start. With 52KM to go, about 20 riders were at the front of the race including a number of Decathlon AG2R riders and others who started the day high up in GC. The race leader Maxim Van Gils of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Tom Pidcock of Q36.5 were in a group 1 minute behind at the start of the second ascent of the Puerto Viejo. It was not long before Van Gils and Pidcock made a move to get across. The front group splintered as Pavel Sivakov of UAE-XRG increased the pace to keep Van Gils and Pidcock on the back foot. Sivakov brought along Brandon Rivera of Ineos, Steff Cras of TotalEnergies, and Clément Berthet and Johannes Staune-Mittet of Decathlon AG2R.
Sivakov continued to push on the climb and, by the top at 43.5KM to go, only Rivera and Berthet were with him at the front of the race. Pidcock and Enric Mas of Movistar were next over the top, 10 seconds behind with Van Gils and Staune-Mittet coming just 7 seconds after. Pidcock descended quickly and made it to the front group with 38KM to go and Mas made it a few kilometers later. When the leading group of five got down to the bottom in Los Villares, they had 25 seconds on Van Gils and Staune-Mittet. A group of 11 caught Van Gils and Staune-Mittet with 26KM to go as the gap to the front had ballooned to 1 minute 40 seconds and all GC hopes were going out the window for Van Gils. Giovanni Aleotti started to work for Van Gils but he could not make a dent in the gap and in the group, only Thomas Gachignard of TotalEnergies had any incentive to ride to keep Cras in the GC game.
Sivakov did the lion's share of the work in the lead group but they rode reasonably well together. With 5KM to go, the gap was 2 minutes and the first attack came from Mas 500M later. The five riders were all together as the road got steep with 1.4KM to go but they slowed down quite a bit by just watching each other. The Van Gils chase group got within 1 minute 10 seconds as the leaders went under 1KM to go. Sivakov tried to go long but everyone responded. He didn't slow down however because the time gap was dwindling and Sivakov could lose the chance at taking over the race lead if they lost much more time. The road turned right and flattened out with 200M which is when Pidcock started his sprint. He was quickly in the lead and only Rivera could challenge but could not get on terms with Pidcock before the line. Sivakov came in on the same time in third with Berthet and Mas behind in fourth and fifth. Van Gils led the chase in 1 minute 10 seconds later which gave the GC lead to Sivakov. Sivakov now leads by 23 seconds on Berthet and 32 seconds to Pidcock. Van Gils slipped to fourth overall, 1 minute 3 seconds back.
Tags: Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol, 2025, February, Stage 2, Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista Del Sol 2025, Alcaudete, Torredelcampo, Maxim Van Gils, Tom Pidcock, Pavel Sivakov, Brandon Rivera, Steff Cras, Clément Berthet, Johannes Staune-Mittet, Enric Mas, Giovanni Aleotti, Thomas Gachignard