John Degenkolb looked in a perfect position to unleash a powerful sprint finish on stage 2 of the Vuelta a Andalucia but an early jump from Juan José Lobato (Movistar) in the final few hundred metres was enough to catch him out, as Degenkolb struggled to claw back the gap created between the two.

The stage was a much less hectic one than the previous day’s road stage which saw four of the team hit the deck, including Tobias Ludvigsson who did not start today’s stage due to the injuries to his wrist as a result of this fall.

Five riders broke clear early in the day to enjoy over five minutes advantage at points before gradually being reeled back in by the bunch over the rolling parcours of the 194.7km stage. Caleb Fairly was once again on pace setting duty at the head of the peloton doing a strong job of keeping the break’s advantage in check before helping to pick up the pace in the second half of the stage.

With 20km to go the race was all back together as the bunch headed towards the final climb of the day, a perfect launch pad for attacks in the final 10km of the stage. Riders tried but it was still a large group that crested the climb together before flying down the descent heading towards the finish town.

Degenkolb got over the climb in a good position and with the help of the team he moved back up to the front of the peloton to show his presence. Koen de Kort was on hand to keep him in position at the front in the final few kilometres but as attacks came in the final kilometre it was a case of every rider for himself.

Lobato made the first move, jumping from behind up the barriers and getting a gap as he squeezed his may through to the front. He immediately opened a small gap over those behind led by Degenkolb in fast pursuit but Degenkolb ran out of room to come past him before the line, having to settle for second.

“We studied the last climb before the stage and knew that John would be able to get over it in a good position so we made a plan around going for him in the sprint again today,” explained coach Christian Guiberteau. “Caleb did a great job pulling on the front all day to control behind the break of five and this set us up well.

“On the final climb Koen dropped back slightly but fought to get back to the front to help John at the finish. When they had to go at the end Koen didn’t quite have the jump left in the legs and John had to go. After the crashes yesterday we’re glad to have a safer and a bit calmer day today but unfortunately the result didn’t quite work out as we would have liked.”