Going long: The story of one man’s four-year-plus ride around the world
Preview: What you need to know about stage 2 of the Vuelta a España
Date: Sunday, August 15
Start: Caleruega
Finish: Burgos
Distance: 166.7 km
This should be a relatively straightforward sprint stage with very little climbing for the riders to worry about – there isn’t a single categorized ascent on the menu.
That said, it’s worth noting that there is a very small, uncategorized kick that tops out inside the last 4 km. That could play an interesting role in the positioning battle at the end of the day, but it’s unlikely to have much of a bigger impact than that.
Who’s it for: Sprinters.
Dane Cash’s picks: The way I see it, there are four top contenders for the sprints in this race, along with a handful of outsiders. Arnaud Démare, Fabio Jakobsen, Jasper Philipsen, and Michael Matthews stand out as the most obvious candidates to win the bunch kicks, and I like Démare and Jakobsen in particular for this stage. Juan Sebastián Molano and Magnus Cort are other fast finishers to keep an eye on.
