Ruta del Sol: Tim Wellens wins stage 1

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Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) has made a solid start towards winning a second Vuelta a Andalucia after the Belgian repeated his 2018 victory on the difficult hilltop finish of Alcala de los Gazules.

Wellens launched a powerful counterattack with 120 metres to go, just as a late acceleration by recent Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana winner Ion Izagirre (Astana) petered out on the ever-changing cobbled gradients of the finishing ascent.

Thanks to his powerful late acceleration, Wellens crossed the line with a useful five seconds advantage on Astana duo Jakob Fuglsang and Izagirre, whilst Mitchelton-Scott’s Jack Haig came home in fourth in the same time. The remainder of the peloton was shattered by a ferociously fast finale and the tough, kilometre-long, uphill finish in the town in western Andalucia, meaning Wellens has claimed an solid early lead overall.

“Of course I knew the final from last year and I was in a good position at its foot, but the team did very well, too, in the last kilometres” Wellens said after claiming the 25th win of his career.

“I started following wheels at the foot of the climb, but then went for it with 200 metres to go and nobody could come after me.”

The winner of the 2018 Vuelta a Andalucia as well as on the stage to Alcala de los Gazules last year, Wellens has already tasted victory this season, at the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, part of the Challenge Mallorca series. However, he went down with a viral infection afterwards, could not train for a week, and said in a team press release on Tuesday that Andalucia’s GC may not be such a big goal in 2019 as it was in 2018.

After such a stunning early performance, though, Wellens may now think again.

How it unfolded

Warm, dry weather greeted the 133-rider peloton as it set off from the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda for a 170-kilometre stage, and it wasn’t long before seven riders attempted an early breakaway.

Michael Van Staeyen (Roompot-Charles), locally born rider Álvaro Cuadros (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Corentin Ermenault (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels), Alessandro Pessot (Bardiani-CSF), Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Unai Cuadrado (Fundación Euskadi) moved ahead despite a fast average speed of 43kmh in the first hour.

Lotto-Soudal, Mitchelton-Scott and Astana kept the seven on a short leash of just over two minutes, and although Samitier attempted a last-ditch effort on the relentlessly rolling terrain, Mitchelton-Scott’s hard work, spearheaded by Esteban Chaves and then Simon Yates on his season debut, saw the last survivor reeled in with 22 kilometres to go.

Some ferociously abrupt accelerations by Bahrain-Merida ground down the peloton and almost caused the bunch to shatter completely at one point. But following a brief truce, Astana then opened up the throttle again as Alcala de los Gazules approached.

Movistar took over at the front with two kilometres to go, with Lotto-Soudal also keeping any late breakaways under control. However, as the road steepened on the final ascent into the village, it was Fuglsang - already a key player Astana’s multiple wins in Spain this season - who ripped the front apart, followed by Haig and with Wellens closely shadowing the two race leaders.

Izagirre tried to go clear at a point where the climb briefly eased before swinging up onto yet more cobbles. But when Wellens surged up on the right hand side of the road, Izagirre had nothing left and the Belgian quickly opened up a gap and soloed across the finish line for his second victory of 2019.

Stage two on Thursday is a lengthy 216 kilometre grind eastwards across the rolling hills of central Andalucia, and it could well end in a bunch sprint. Then Friday’s short hilly stage three time trial - not dis-similar to the one last year where Wellens sealed his victory in the Vuelta a Andalucia, represents the next big challenge for the overall contenders. But the real showdown will come in Saturday’s stage across Sierra Nevada mountains.

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