Lidl-Trek took on the decisive ramps of Limone Piemonte head-on to help Giulio Ciccone go for victory in Stage 2 of the Vuelta a España, which started in Italy — and to crown what has so far been a very encouraging Spanish summer for him. The Italian made the most of the fog near the finish and, above all, the boiling chaos in front of him, launching his move with 200 meters to go. For a moment, even the live TV images seemed to suggest he had pulled it off — but in the end it was Jonas Vingegaard who got his wheel across the line first (by less than half a wheel, to be precise).

“I opened my sprint in too big a gear and lost a little in the last 50 meters. It’s a pity because I really cared about the red jersey, and my legs are good — but precisely for that reason I’ll try again!” said the 30-year-old rider in his immediate post-race comments.

Asked later about the crash involving around ten cyclists as they exited a roundabout in the run-up to the final climb — an incident that slowed the bunch and allowed, among others, Vingegaard to regain contact — Ciccone explained:

“It was a stretch of wet road where you really couldn’t stay upright. You have to be fair: you don’t win because your rival has crashed.”