Had you merely cast your eyes over the day’s racing results without watching a kilometre of live coverage, you may have thought upon seeing yet another Jumbo-Visma podium lockout that the Dutch team were simply continuing their run of domination this season at the Vuelta a Burgos .
However, this 1-2-3 was more the result of a horrible crash with 500m to go at the end of stage 2.
David Dekker, fourth in line of the Jumbo-Visma train and the rider the Dutch team were trying to set up for the stage win, fell as the bunch hit a speed bump with the tempo ratcheted up to warp speed as the finish line neared. His fall from him precipitated a mass pile-up behind, so big that the three Jumbo-Visma lead-out men ahead were clear to take the stage win.
Timo Roosen led Edoardo Affini across the line with Chris Harper third.
“It was really hectic already, and we took the front, Affini just pulled full gas and it was an all-out effort,” Timo Roosen said after the finish. “There was some speed bump out of nowhere, I didn’t really see it. I heard something behind me, but I didn’t know what happened. I looked behind me, and I thought it was David, and then I heard he had crashed. I went to the final corner at 250m and just sprinted to the line. Because of the crash, I was there, and I could win.”
Roosen was nevertheless happy with his fourth professional win, despite the circumstances leaving a bit of a sour taste.
“It’s a nice one to have on the palmares, but I hope to have it a different way,” he said. “I heard it was a big crash, I didn’t see anything. It’s not the most beautiful way to win a race.”
“I can say I got my birthday present today,” Matteo Trentin added. “I have no idea how I avoided the crash. Hope all the guys involved are OK! What a mess.”
Bahrain-Victorious’ Santiago Buitrago leads the race with three stages still to come, holding a three-second advantage over Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education EasyPost), Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers).