Tom Pidcock powers through in Ruta del Sol, while Van Gils takes a beating from UAE and Sivakov

After the victory of Maxim Van Gils on day one, day two again had a lot of elevation meters in store. Three third-category climbs and two second-category climbs were replaced in a stage of only 133 kilometers by one second-category climb and two first-category climbs. So, it was time to warm your legs for anyone aiming for the GC in Andalusia.

And so it happened. Heading for the first climb of the day - the Puerto de Locubin (with uncategorized extension) - it was an all-out attack, with the strongest names reaching the top for the mountain points. Marc Soler reached the top ahead of Gregor Mühlberger, the moment to break away. A group of seven seized that moment.

Ådne Holter (Uno-X), Axel Laurance (INEOS), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R), Igor Arrieta (UAE), Welay Hagos Berhe (Jayco), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Gianluca Brambilla (Q36.5) rode together in the breakaway and gained an advantage, but it never increased much. The leading group could thus serve as a nice sprint platform for attacks from the peloton towards the foot of the Alto de los Villares, which had to be conquered twice.

When we started after 55 kilometers, things began to happen in the peloton. With Arrieta virtually in the leader's jersey, Pavel Sivakov (UAE) and Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R) attacked. These were dangerous competitors, so the rest of the pack had to get involved. Suddenly, we had a completely new situation at the top of the climb, with Johannes Staune-Mittet (Decathlon), Brandon Rivera (INEOS), Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) and the remaining Mas at the front, along with Sivakov and Berthét.

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The second ascent of the Alto de los Villares was do-or-die for the GC riders still in the peloton. Tom Pidcock set off for Q36.5, and Van Gils, the GC leader, joined him. However, the Red Bull-Belgian did not have superhuman legs and could not keep up with the pace of the Brit. The group completely broke up, with Sivakov, Berthét, and Rivera remaining at the front and eventually being joined by Pidcock and Mas, who had rejoined the race after being dropped.

Sivakov, only 7 seconds behind in the GC, had the leader's jersey in his sights and consequently took the most turns at the front. Van Gils had to do everything alone after Staune-Mittet was dropped, and in the last thirty kilometers, he was already one and a half minutes behind the leaders. We entered the final with five leaders, with the group that could be called the peloton two minutes behind. What did the last part of the race look like? A flat 30-kilometer phase with an uphill finish.

With the status quo, we headed towards Torredelcampo, where the five made it a beautiful finale with an exciting spectacle. They took a gamble, allowing Van Gils and co. to close the gap considerably. When the gap was less than a minute, Sivakov decided to go full throttle in the final kilometer. Pidcock reacted calmly to everything, knowing that he had a fast sprint. He proved this by winning convincingly. Sivakov took the lead, with Van Gils finishing 1:10 minutes behind.