Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 3:17 PM
Tadej Pogacar is still undefeated in 2023. The Slovenian, who started his season on Monday with a victory in the Jaén Paraíso Interior and won the opening stage of the Ruta del Sol on Wednesday, was again successful in the Spanish stage race on Thursday. On the punch finish in Alcalá la Real he beat Enric Mas and Santiago Buitrago.
In the second stage of the Ruta del Sol, the riders had to overcome a lot less altitude meters than on day one, but Thursday’s ride was by no means easy. In the final, the Puerto de la Hoya de Charilla – with extremely steep sections – waited first and the final kilometer in Alcalá la Real also rose at 11.5%. So feed for the puncheurs. Would Tadej Pogacar strike again?
Fast opening hours
In the opening phase of the stage, a strong leading group of twelve riders emerged. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan), Iván García Cortina, Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco AlUla), Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA ), Davide Bais (EOLO-Kometa), Frederik Frison (Lotto Dstny), Aaron Van Poucke, Alex Colman (both Flanders-Baloise), Alessandro Covi (UAE Emirates), who won last year in Alcalá la Real, were one minute ahead together.
INEOS Grenadiers, which, unlike fellow classification teams UAE Emirates and Bahrain Victorious, had no one with them, tried to close the gap. It led to a very fast start to the ride: fifty kilometers were covered in the first hour. The pursuit of the British formation was ultimately successful. With 100 kilometers to go, the peloton caught up with the breakaway again.
The first leading group of the day – photo: Cor Vos
New leading group with Teuns and Rota
Brent Van Moer (Lotto Dstny) and Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies) then drove ahead of the crowd for a while, but they also didn’t really get the space. The group that started walking afterwards seemed to have a better chance of success. Early escapees Mohoric, Juul-Jensen and Bais set out this time with Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech), Alan Jousseaume (TotalEnergies), Lorenzo Rota, Georg Zimmermann (both Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Axel Laurance ( Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Antonio Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan).
Teuns and Rota were the best classified riders at the front. They were both two minutes and 41 seconds behind Pogacar. UAE Emirates could therefore not let go of the reins too much and therefore took its responsibility in the peloton. Pogacar’s team reduced the lead of the nine, which had previously increased to more than two minutes, to less than two minutes at the foot of the Puerto de la Hoya de Charilla.
Landa attacks, Pogacar counters
A lot happened on this toughest climb of the day. At the front, the leading group was thinned out under the pounding of Teuns: only Mohoric, Rota and Zimmermann could follow him. In the peloton, meanwhile, we saw an acceleration of Mikel Landa, the number two in the classification. However, Pogacar was alert and was immediately in the wheel of the Spaniard. Later, the yellow jersey wearer took over and got the Bahrain Victorious driver into trouble.
Pogacar puts pressure on Landa – photo: Cor Vos
While Landa fell back to a group with his teammate Santiago Buitrago, Enric Mas and Carlos Rodríguez, Pogacar jumped forward. Before the top of the Puerto de la Hoya de Charilla he was among the four attackers. In the (dangerous) descent, however, there was a regrouping: the pursuers were able to return to Pogacar and co. Mohoric then took the lead in this sinking.
Punchen in Alcalá la Real
The Slovenian from Bahrain Victorious briefly made a gap, but once down, the eight others connected again. It then went en groupe to Alcalá la Real. Just before this place was reached, three riders came back from the rear: Tao Geoghegan Hart, Damiano Caruso and Rafal Majka. Just then Rota gave it a rag. When the Italian was called to order, his teammate Zimmermann attacked. His attempt was also unsuccessful.
In the last, difficult kilometer, Mohoric started first. He couldn’t keep up his effort. Then we had to wait for the last hundreds of meters, where the asphalt turned into cobblestones. Here Pogacar and Mas separated themselves from the rest. They rode side by side for a while, but in the ultimate final phase Pogacar turned out to be the strongest. Mas broke and had to admit a few seconds to the two-time Tour winner, who booked his third victory of 2023. He also finished last season with two victories.
