Ciccone denied by 'great champion' Vingegaard in Vuelta stage 2 battle
The 30-year-old continued to display his fine form but fell agonisingly short of the stage win.
Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) finished second on stage 2 of the Vuelta a España on a rainy Sunday in Italy, narrowly missing out on victory to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) on the uphill finish at Limone Piemonte.
The in-form Italian rider launched his attack with under 200 metres remaining after moves from Felix Gall and Tom Pidcock in a reduced group of approximately 25 riders.
Despite looking strong, Ciccone was caught and passed by pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard just metres before the finish line, denying him both the stage win and race leader’s red jersey.
"I was a bit boxed in for the last five hundred metres, with Ayuso in front of me," explained Ciccone to reporters immediately after the finish. "I just went for it intuitively, but that was perhaps a bit too early. It was too difficult to hold on."
The Italian added that he had been overgeared for the steep final ramp. "I went with too big a gear and the last 50m were too hard but that’s how it was," he said.
Ciccone had high ambitions for this stage, specifically targeting a home win in Italy, hoping to add the red jersey to his collection, having previously worn the yellow jersey at the Tour de France in 2019.
He was also touted as one of the pre-stage favourites because of his strong punch at the end of an uphill finish, and the excellent form he's been in throughout August that has seen him win the Donostia San Sebastián Klasikoa, as well as the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos.
"My legs are very good, but it's a shame I didn't win,” said Ciccone. “This was a really big goal. I really wanted to take the jersey, but we'll keep trying,” added the Italian, signalling his intent for the days ahead.
Stage winner Jonas Vingegaard had crashed earlier in the stage on a rain-soaked roundabout with multiple riders, including some of his teammates and Tom Pidcock, with 26.5km remaining. Ciccone, who was able to avoid the incident, made it clear that he was not willing to have his team push the pace in the peloton and was glad to see the peloton ease the pace to allow the riders involved to return as a sign of respect.
"It was quite dangerous,” said Ciccone of the treacherous conditions. “You can't take advantage when a great champion is on the ground," he explained, paying respect to Vingegaard, who would ultimately pip the Italian to the stage win.
Ciccone now sits second in the general classification, trailing Vingegaard by 4 seconds, with stage 3 offering another uphill finish for the peloton. However, the run-in to Ceres on Monday is much shorter and shallower than the Limone Piemonte ascent, and looks well-suited to Ciccone's teammate Mads Pedersen.
Regardless of which Lidl-Trek rider tomorrow's climb suits better, Ciccone has illustrated that he remains in top shape and will be well-equipped and motivated for the many opportunities to come throughout this Vuelta.
