Volta Ciclista a Catalunya 2022 – Stage 2
Let’s be honest and say, I got stage 1 completely wrong. Echelons played a part but a complete misread of the finale. Poor read of the finale, but let’s move on.
Another relatively flat stage. Just above 200 km and 2350 climbing meters.
From the south towards the north – all the way to France! We have some hills, but the last 30 km are flat which should mean it ends in a sprint.
The last five km
Quite the battle we will see for the short ramp with 1.2 km left.
Turn into the
Road narrows with 1.05 km left.
The peloton should be stretched out here.
Slightly downhill towards the finish, and we even have some road furniture in the finale with 300 meters left.
Weather
A tailwind for most of the day. Up to 6 m/s towards the last 35 km. Yr.no reports 7 m/s, https://meteofrance.com/ 8 m/s with gusts up to 14 m/s. Let’s take a look if it can happen, after all, we are in France. 13 degrees C and no rain.
Echelons?
We have this section with 20 km left – 10 km left. Two towns in those KM too, which will make it difficult. Heading into a tailwind afterwards is good for the ones wanting to split it.
Echelons?
Another short section, even shorter. 6.5 km left – 4.5 km left. 7 m/s should make the peloton nervous on this small road.
Contenders
Matthews / Groves – a win for Matthews means it is likely he will be their sprinter again. They have a good team for crosswinds and he didn’t miss the split today. A win brings motivation, he will be hard to beat. He should be one of the favorites if they can drop the fast men again.
Bauhaus – could not follow today, I think he can tomorrow. With a chance of echelons, he might have to work for them.
Hoffstetter with a 9th place today. I imagine him up there again tomorrow.
Molano – 11th today. I imagine better tomorrow. Quick fast in a sprint but today was perhaps a tad too hard.
Vernon – was dropped today. Let’s see if the young Brit can survive tomorrow. I’m not sure how fast he is, but I imagine quite fast.
Laas – also dropped. I imagine he can get a good result if he survives. He will most likely be looking after Higuita.
Tom Devriendt – a strong rider, should finish in the top-10.
Mads Wurtz – late attack after a hard day? You got your man right here.
Who will win?
I think we will see a slower race than today, the echelons will happen later. It should still be a nervous stage. I think Bauhaus will survive and take the win.
