As it happened: British one-two in bunch sprint on Volta a Catalunya stage two

Hello and welcome to the live blog for stage two of the Volta a Catalunya 2025 here on CyclingNews.

What a stage yesterday was with the horrendous weather and the dramatic finale which saw 19-year-old Brit, Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike, steal victory from Alpecin-Deceuninck's Kaden Groves and Tibor Del Grosso on the line.

Today's stage starts in the town of Banyoles and covers 177.3km to the finish in Figueres, where it is expected that there will be a bunch sprint. However, there are two major climbs at half way, the Coll Puig del Pení (4km at an average of 4.6% max of 8%) and the Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes (7.6km at an average of 6.5% max of 15%).

One DNS today:

Tao Geoghegan-Hart (Lidl-Trek)

Three DNF/DNSs yesterday:

Kamiel Bonneu (Intermarche-Wanty)
Jon Agirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
José Luis Faura (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)

Sign on is done and dusted and now the riders are getting ready for the neutral start in around 15 minutes. 

Brennan came into this race at the last minute as a replacement for Jonas Vingegaard. But he sees it as a privilege to ride in his Visma-Lease a Bike leader's place...

>>> 'A privilege to be racing on Jonas' behalf' - Matthew Brennan's late substitution for Vingegaard at Volta a Catalunya gets off to perfect start 

Tirreno-Adriatico winner, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), knows he will have to be on top form to beat this strong field at this race...

>>> 'To win, I'll need to be at my absolute best' - Juan Ayuso keen to continue run of early 2025 success in Volta a Catalunya 

Despite losing 15" yesterday in the technical finale, Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) is keen to put Paris-Nice behind him and have a good GC performance...

>>> 'The Volta suits me perfectly' - Ben O'Connor determined to put Paris-Nice behind him in Catalunya 

Neutral start

The riders are rolling out of Banyoles and heading to kilometre zero and the start of the stage. 

177.3km to go

The racing is underway for stage two of the 104th Volta a Catalunya.

Just 10km before the first intermediate sprint of the day in Medinyà with 3, 2 and 1 points and bonus seconds available. 

Attack

Calum Johnston (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)
Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma)
Danny van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

They quickly pull out 18" on the peloton. Van der Tuuk wears the red and white mountains jersey today after his breakaway exploits on stage one. 

The gap to the leading trio is extending to over 30".

Now there is over a minute between the peloton and the leaders. It appear that the bunch are not interested in the chance of early bonus seconds in Medinyà.

Today is Wilco Kelderman's 34th birthday. Aside from race leader Matthew Brennan, he is the best placed rider for Visma-Lease a Bike just 10" down. 

Inside 2km until the break gets to the first intermediate sprint of the day. 

The break now have over two minutes on the bunch as they go through the intermediate sprint in Medinyà.

Intermediate sprint (Medinyà)

1. Calum Johnston (GBR) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 3pts 3"
2. Diego Uriarte (ESP) Kern Pharma 2pts 2"
3. Danny van der Tuuk (POL) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1pt 1"

160km to go

The gap is now just under four minutes between the leading trio and the chasing pack and is still growing. 

After a lovely mild sunny start the rain has returned and is falling on the riders as Visma-Lease a Bike take up the pace setting on the front of the peloton. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck come to the front and change the pace slightly as the gap to the break has now stopped expanding at 4'15". 

The time gap has settled at just under four minutes as Alpecin-Deceuninck control the race. Just over 10km until the next intermediate sprint in L'Escala where 3, 2 and 1 point(s) and bonus second(s) are available. 

Crash

Itamar Einhorn (Israel-Premier Tech)

The Israeli rider went down on the wet roads but is back in the peloton again. 

The gap is starting to be reduced with the break having just 3'30" over the peloton, now. 

Just 5km to the next intermediate sprint. 

After the first hour the average speed is 42kph.

Intermediate sprint (L'Escala)

1. Diego Uriarte (ESP) Kern Pharma 3pts 3"
2. Danny van der Tuuk (POL) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2pts 2"
3. Calum Johnston (GBR) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1pt 1"

Picnic-PostNL have joined Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma-Lease a Bike on the front of the peloton. 

The breakaway's lead has been cut back to just three minutes. 

Abandon

Nolann Mahoudo (Cofidis)

The pace is high in the bunch as the wind is picking up and making it very nervy out on course. 

The break are struggling to hold off the peloton as the gap continues to fall. Now at just over two minutes. 

120km to go

The gap to the break drops below two minutes as they appear to be heading back to the peloton. The weather is playing a key part as the race has under 20km to the first climb of the day, the 4km long Coll Puig del Pení which has an average gradient of 4.6% and a max kick of 8%.

Now just 1'25" between the leaders and the peloton. Not looking good for the breakaway. 

With just 5km to the base of the first climb of the day, the break have less than a minute on the bunch. 

Onto the Coll Puig del Pení goes the race with the peloton just 55" behind the leaders. Mountain jersey leader, Danny van der Tuuk (Euskaltel-Euskadi), will be hoping he can hold on over the next two climbs to add more points to his tally. 

Just 40" gap between the three man break and the peloton. 

The peloton has dropped the pace and has allowed the gap to the break to go out to a minute and a half again. 

As the riders go over the top of the Coll Puig del Pení, the gap has gone back out to 1'50" and they leading trio can breathe a sigh of relief. 

KoM (Coll Puig del Pení)

1. Danny van der Tuuk (POL) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3pts
2. Diego Uriarte (ESP) Kern Pharma 2pts
3. Calum Johnston (GBR) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 1pt

That puts Van der Tuuk on 8pts with a gap of 4pts over his teammate, Nicolás Alustiza. 

100km to go

The riders now have a twisty descent to tackle before immediately going into the hardest and final categorised climb of the day, the Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes. It is 7.6km long with an average of 6.5% and max of 15%. 

EF Education-EasyPost joined Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike and Picnic-PostNL as they work for their sprinters, Marijn van den Berg, Kaden Groves, Matthew Brennan and Pavel Bittner. 

The peloton has come down the descent much faster than the break and the gap has taken a dive to just over a minute, again. 

The sunshine has come out for the riders and the temperature has shot up to 19°C with lovely clear skies as the riders start the final climb of the day, the Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes with just 40" between the break and bunch. 

Dropped from break

Calum Johnston (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA)

As UAE Team Emirates-XRG move to the front of the peloton with just 37" between the break and peloton. 

Calum Johnston (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) has been caught by the peloton. The Glaswegian rider will have, perhaps, hoped for more today. 

Dropped from peloton

Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL)

He has his entire team pacing for him. This is a very difficult climb and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) is causing some damage in the peloton as he sets a hard tempo. 

Dropped from peloton

Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep)
Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech)

The two Brits struggling with the pace. 

Attack in peloton

Mario Aparicio (Burgos-Burpellet-BH)

He has just about 25" gap to close to Van der Tuuk and Uriarte. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck come to the front with Groves in fourth wheel and looking very strong. 

Mario Aparicio makes it to Danny van der Tuuk and Diego Uriarte. They just have 22" on the peloton. 

Aparicio won the KoM and went solo but Uriarte has caught him and gone by. Van der Tuuk has sat up and has been caught by the flying peloton. Uriarte is now pushing on solo with 75km to go. 

KoM (Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes)

1. Mario Aparicio (ESP) Burgos-Burpellet-BH 10pts
2. Danny van der Tuuk (POL) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8pts
3. Diego Uriarte (ESP) Kern Pharma 6pts
4. Marc Soler (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 4pts
5. Frederik Wandahl (DEN) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe 2pts
6. Laurens De Plus (BEL) Ineos Grenadiers 1pt

Van der Tuuk keeps the KoM jersey for another day. 

70km to go

Diego Uriarte is caught and that brings an end to the breakaway for today. UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Alpecin-Deceuninck sharing the pacing now and thy aren't sure what to do with the pace. 

Just over two kilometres to the intermediate sprint at Garriguella with 3, 2 and 1 point(s) and bonus second(s). 

Intermediate sprint (Garriguella)

1. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 3pts 3"
2. Axel Laurance (FRA) Ineos Grenadiers 2pts 2"
3. Jan Tratnik (SLO) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe 1pt 1"

Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck) leads the peloton ahead of a cluster of Movistar riders. 

60km to go

Jayco-AlUla join Visma-Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck on the front of the peloton. 

There's about 40" gap between the peloton and the group with several sprinters in it. Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL), Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) and Ide Schelling (XDS-Astana) all involved in that group off the back. 

The wind has picked up again. UAE Team Emirates-XRG has dramatically upped the pace with Pavel Sivakov on the front stretching the bunch right out in one long line. 

As soon as UAE Team Emirates-XRG end their turn the bunch looks around and the pace stalls. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe come back up and thee is a small group out of the back. Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale also involved in the pacing. 

Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) and Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis) are also out of the back. 

50km to go

Movistar leading the peloton as they try and keep the majority of the pure sprinters out of the back. The chasing group is around 25" down. 

Mutliple teams now in colour order across the road as they head to the first passage of the finish line before doing a big loop of over 40km. 

40km to go

The chasing group has got back on and the teams of Bittner and Vernon immediately move to the front of the peloton again as they work to try and get a bunch sprint. 

Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep) is, once again, struggling to stay on the back of the peloton. The British champion appears to be really struggling. 

Attack!

Groupama-FDJ send a rider up the road much like yesterday and he is joined by riders from Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck. 

Leaders:

Briuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ)
Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

Unsurprisingly, Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe drag it back very quickly. 

30km to go

After that little bit of action, the peloton compacts again and the pace slackens again with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek, Ineos Grenadiers, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale and UAE Team Emirates-XRG leading the way. 

The race just took a turn onto a much narrower road going from eight riders wide to four riders wide. It has seen the peloton stretch right out but, fortunately, everyone stayed on their bikes. Jayco-AlUla leading the pacing, now. 

Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma) has, unsurprisingly, been awarded the most combative rider of the day award. 

Caja Rural-Seguros RGA's sprinter, Daniel Babor has been dropped by the peloton. Also, much like yesterday, the Slovenian champion, Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has also been dropped. 

Now the riders descend to around 17km to go and it is Ineos Grenadiers leading the peloton with Geraint Thomas on the front for Egan Bernal, Laurens De Plus and Axel Laurance. 

20km to go

Ineos Grenadiers have strung this race right out as they head to a point on the course that could see some tricky crosswinds. 

Visma-Lease a Bike return to the front and Matthew Brennan is looking good in fourth wheel. 

They now turn onto the road where the wind is coming from the side but the pace seems slack as the wind has dropped and there are plenty trees sheltering them. 

Visma-Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost, Soudal-QuickStep, Movistar, Bahrain Victorious and Jayco-AlUla leading the peloton. 

10km to go

Visma-Lease a Bike have complete control of the peloton, for the moment. EF Education-EasyPost are just sat on their shoulder, though. They will likely come up and challenge, soon. 

As the road widens dramatically, multiple teams move up. Visma-Lease a Bike, EF Education-EasyPost, Lotto, Bahrain Victorious, Israel-Premier Tech, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Lidl-Trek all at the front, now. 

The pace has rocketed thanks to a solid tailwind. They're riding in the mid 60kph at the moment with 7km to go. 

5km to go

Lidl-Trek and Kern Pharma have the front as some of the GC teams are moving up to keep their leaders safe before the 3km mark where they can sit up. Visma-Lease a Bike moving up again with Brennan. 

Into the final 4km and it is three teams on the front. Lidl-Trek, Kern Pharma and Alpecin-Deceuninck. 

Lidl-Trek don't have a sprinter. Kern Pharma have Pau Miquel and Alpecin-Deceuninck, of course, have Kaden Groves. 

3km to go and, suddenly, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe move up with Primož Roglič in second wheel. Multiple other teams starting to challenge them and Ineos Grenaders drag Alpecin-Deceuninck's train up with them by accident. 

Flamme Rouge

Into the final kilometre and Alpecin-Deceuninck are in full leadout mode for Kaden Groves but Matthew Brennan is locked on his wheel for Visma-Lease a Bike. 

500 metres to go and Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale lead with Dorian Godon ahead of Andrea Vendrame. But Alpecin-Deceuninck come through for Groves who is in second wheel. 

Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) wins stage two of the Volta a Catalunya 2025! 

It's two from two for British riders and Matthew Brennan managed to get second on the day with a rapid finish. 

Top 10

1. Ethan Vernon (GBR) Israel-Premier Tech 4:16'16"
2. Matthew Brennan (GBR) Visma-Lease a Bike
3. Kaden Groves (AUS) Alpecin-Deceuninck
4. Axel Laurance (FRA) Ineos Grenadiers
5. Pavel Bittner (CZE) Picnic-PostNL
6. Dorian Godon (FRA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
7. Marijn van den Berg (NED) EF Education-EasyPost
8. Stanisław Aniołkowski (POL) Cofidis
9. Dion Smith (NZL) Intermarche-Wanty
10. Anders Foldager (DEN) Jayco-AlUla, all same time. 

Multiple sprinters who were dropped on the Coll de Sant Pere de Rodes all came back on the flat lands after the descent and Ethan Vernon was one of them who didn't panic and his Israel-Premier Tech team guided him perfectly. 

GC after stage two

1. Matthew Brennan (GBR) Visma-Lease a Bike 8:41'17"
2. Kaden Groves (AUS) Alpecin-Deceuninck +6"
3. Tibor Del Grosso (NED) Alpecin-Deceuninck +12"
4. Enric Mas (ESP) Movistar +13"
5. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG S.T.
6. Primož Roglič (SLO) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe +15"
7. Dorian Godon (FRA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale +16"
8. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale
9. William Junior Lecerf (BEL) Soudal-QuickStep
10. Pavel Bittner (CZE) Picnic-PostNL all same time.

Tomorrow's stage is a big mountains stage with over 5000 metres of climbing on the menu. This will see the big GC names come out and play as they tackle the 218.6km route from Viladecans The Style Outlets to La Molina. 

For further reaction on the racing today, have a read of our post race report by clicking the link below...

>>> Volta a Catalunya: Ethan Vernon edges Matthew Brennan by half a wheel to win stage 2