Gabriele Raccagni fifth and new leader of Vuelta a Madrid
The second stage of the Vuelta a Madrid with wind, gravel sectors, hills and the great influence of the heat reduced the strength of the riders and a small group fought for the victory in Chinchón with Gabriele Raccagni 5th and Tommaso Bessega 6th.
The stage started with a very high pace due to the wind. During the first hour of the race the riders covered more than 45 kilometers. A group of four escapees was formed and they reached a lead of 3 minutes over a bunch that accelerated and stopped. Halfway through the stage, the breakaway lost a unit as the two groups approached each other. Due to this proximity and the dissatisfaction in the main group another rider managed to link up with the escapees while the bunch stopped again. Once the race approached the first pass over the gravel sectors the pace increased again in the bunch.
In that first sector the breakaway was neutralized and a lead group of seven formed with Tommaso Bessega and his brother Gabriele along with Gerard Cano in the small chasing group. The lack of understanding in that front group meant that four riders attacked and formed a new lead group with the bunch 30 seconds behind. Six riders from the team remained in a very small bunch that broke up on the second gravel section in the last 10 kilometres.
Despite the formation of several chasing groups, it was a crash in the last kilometer that caused the bunch to neutralize the only rider who remained in the breakaway. Gabriele Raccagni managed to take 5th in a complicated sprint with Tommaso Bessega 6th. Raccagni also took the red race leader’s jersey and Gabriele Bessega wore the orange jersey of best U21 rider.
Gabriele Raccagni took the leader’s jersey for his best classification in the stage ahead of Bessega: “We worked hard and after catching the breakaway I finished fifth in a chaotic sprint. Tomorrow is a hard stage and we’ll see how far I can go”.
“It was good for us to have a breakaway at the start, but the stage got a bit complicated on the first gravel section. The four dangerous riders got away from the bunch and that’s why the team started to work with a sprint finish in mind. They worked well, the heat is a big limiting factor, but they did their best. It didn’t go as we had planned, but we are satisfied after a crazy day and although we would have liked to win, it’s difficult”, summed up Miguel Gómez a demanding second stage in Chinchón where the leader’s jersey changed from riders, but not the team.
Photos: Lucas Abad / Vuelta a Madrid
