Vuelta a España 2023

Stage 2 – Mataró > Barcelona (182km)

Profile

Stage 1 Result

1st Team DSM-Firmenich (600/1)

2nd Movistar Team (20/1)

3rd EF Education-EasyPost (66/1)

Stage 1 Bets

UAE Team Emirates 0.5pts win @14/1

A big shock with early starters DSM taking advantage of the better weather conditions as well as having the benefit of riding in daylight. For many GC teams, stage pick UAE Team Emirates included, the aim was to get around safely, something that eluded a fair few.

Stage 2 Preview

This stage is all about the last 10km and the short climb up Montjuic (0.9km at 9.4%) which the riders often tackle in the Volta a Catalunya. It peaks just 3km from home and is followed by a fast descent before rising again towards the line.  

The road goes up from the gun with the third-category Coll de Sant Bartomeu (7.6km at 4.5%) so we could get a stronger breakaway than usual for the first road stage of a Grand Tour, though it will almost certainly be reeled in for a showdown back in Barcelona.

The weather is likely to play a part with thunderstorms forecast in the afternoon and could see the race break up more than it ordinarily would – hopefully we don’t see any major crashes.

Stage 2 Contenders

This looks suited to a puncheur with a fast finish though general classification contenders will almost certainly get involved and many will have to be vigilant (or lucky given the conditions) not to lose time. Sprinter-climbers (which pretty much includes all the sprinters on the startlist due to the lack of opportunities for pure fast men) aren’t completely without a chance if they can hang on over the top of the climb.

Primož Roglič (5/2; 3.50) will be hard to beat if it turns into a sprint between the GC men as he demonstrated for the umpteenth time at the Vuelta a Burgos last week, bagging two stage wins and the overall. He’s clearly going very well but the price is short considering how chaotic it could get in the expected treacherous conditions.

Marjin van den Berg (6/1) took a breakthrough win in a crash-marred uphill sprint at the Tour de Pologne earlier this month. He’s a strong all-rounder with a big chance if it comes back to a reduced group sprint.

Remco Evenepoel (8/1) beat Pello Bilbao in a two-up sprint to take his third Donastia San Sebastian Klasikoa last month which shows how much that part of his game has improved. He’ll no doubt put in a few digs on the climb which is right up the defending champion’s street.

Romain Grégoire (14/1) took two hilltop stage wins and the overall at the Tour de Limousin a couple of weeks ago which backed up a similar performance at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque earlier in the season. The opposition is significantly tougher here, but this could be a breakthrough race for the 20-year-old Frenchman.   

Juan Ayuso (25/1) is another, unbelievably, who is yet to turn 21 (he’ll do so on stage 20 of this year’s race) though has already achieved some top results including a place on the podium last year. He looks set to join the top table of Grand Tour contenders in the not-too-distant future and will be eager to put on a show on home roads.  

Bryan Coquard (18/1) had an excellent Tour de France with several top ten results and this is a final that suits though he very rarely gets his nose in front at this level.

Alberto Dainese (40/1) is coming in with some great form from the Arctic Race of Norway where he picked up a stage win and pulled well for the team in some tough conditions. The climb might be just be too hard for him, however.

Hugo Page (50/1) achieved a breakthrough win at the Tour de Limousin on a lumpy course a couple of weeks back. More of a one-day specialist, Page struggles to compete with the very fastest on the flat but this could be perfect.

As you can see, all sorts of rider-types might get involved here and it could get messy with multiple attacks, so just a couple of tentative each-way picks on the French duo of Romain Grégoire and Hugo Page for this one.

Stage 2 Bets

Romain Grégoire 1pt each way (3 places) @14/1

Hugo Page 0.5pts each way (3 places) @50/1

Posted 22:09 BST Sat 26th Aug 2023

Prices to win the stage (in brackets) are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change - find the best prices available on the Vuelta a España at Oddschecker

[Vuelta a España stage profiles reproduced by kind permission of Ben Lowe at Veloviewer.com]

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