CYCLING – Team Bahrain Victorious celebrated their first victory of the season on Thursday with an outstanding performance on the queen stage of this year’s Vuelta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
Santiago Buitrago claimed victory in the race’s 166-kilometre second leg, finishing nine seconds ahead of his teammate Pello Bilbao.
João Almeida of UAE Team Emirates-XRG completed the podium, finishing 13 seconds behind the winner.
Buitrago continued the team’s fine showing in the Spain event by taking second place in yesterday’s 180.3km third stage, with Bilbao claiming fourth place. Buitrago finished just 10s behind winner Ivan Romeo of Movistar Team, with Almeida again third.
Following yesterday’s action, Almeida became the leader on the race’s general classification (GC) in the battle for the yellow jersey, but Buitrago was ranked just two seconds behind in second place and Bilbao 21s back in third.
Buitrago, however, leads the points rankings for the orange jersey as well as the King of Mountain standings for the polka dot jersey.
Buitrago said following his stage two win: “Starting the season with a victory is amazing. I’m super happy because this is really important for me and for the team. It’s our first of the season, and that makes it even more special.
“The whole team put in an incredible effort, and I’m proud of the work everyone did today. This result gives us confidence for the rest of the season.”
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