Pidcock hits out hard, but can’t stop Romeo’s Ruta del Sol overall win as Visma | Lease a Bike lose Laporte

There was one last day to go in southern Spain. But while the UAE Tour finished with a sprint stage, the Ruta del Sol’s GC battle was saved for Sunday. It was the hardest stage of the race — but could anyone still prevent Iván Romeo from taking overall victory? The Spaniard won stage two and had built a healthy cushion in the standings.

Four riders tried to do what Romeo had done earlier in the week and make the difference from far out. Among them was Milan Vader (Pinarello–Q36.5), alongside strong names like Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates–XRG), Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Mobility) and Alexander Hajek (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe). Hajek, however, crashed hard and was forced to abandon.

So it became three at the front rather than four. On the rolling Spanish roads they built a decent advantage, but everyone knew the stage would explode in the finale. With 50 kilometres to go it was still around two minutes — seemingly not enough. The Alto de la Primera Cruz had to be tackled twice in the closing phase, and it was always going to create gaps.

The break’s lead melted away as the first passage of the key climb came into view. On the slopes the escapees were reeled in, with Visma | Lease a Bike lifting the tempo. They couldn’t prevent attacks, but Victor Campenaerts soon managed to restore a measure of control — even as the accelerations kept coming.

Visma’s plans looked like they were heading for the bin when Christophe Laporte hit the deck. The points leader was left on the roadside in pain, and any ambitions for the day were immediately over. Campenaerts tried to switch gears and go on the offensive, but he was caught before the final climb thanks to Cofidis’ work. Not long after, Pidcock’s teammates took over at the front.

With a kilometre to go to the summit, Pidcock launched. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) initially held his wheel but was later forced to let go. Jan Christen and race leader Romeo also had to concede a gap. Pidcock crested with close to 20 seconds in hand and even picked up bonus seconds — but it wasn’t enough to take the overall lead. The stage win, though, was emphatic.