00:00Welcome on stage 2.
00:02Onto stage 2 of La Vuelta, which takes us from Monaco to France.
00:06Tade Pigaccia is wearing the red jersey after his victory in the time trial,
00:10but some of the punchiest sprinters are looking to take it off his hands today
00:13as they tackle an uphill finish in Manosque.
00:16Wap Manas is just 9 seconds off the pace,
00:19and there are 10 bonus seconds on offer for the stage winner.
00:22It was at least a nice takeaway yesterday to see the final result
00:25and to learn that I was within 10 seconds.
00:28It gives me still a small chance to go for the red jersey.
00:31I think it's something that should suit me.
00:33It looks pretty hard.
00:35The last couple of kilometres is always dragging up with a few steeper parts,
00:38so for sure it will be really a sprint for a strong man.
00:43And yeah, it's a nice final that I like.
00:48Van Aert will face some stiff competition though,
00:51not least from the man who just won the green jersey at the Tour de France, Mads Pedersen.
00:55The day knows the finish well, having triumphed twice in Manosque on the Tour de la Provence.
01:02It's just uphill, and uphill it suits me really well.
01:05So yeah, of course it gives some confidence when you already won there twice,
01:10but also you can't compare Vuelta and Provence, you know, with all of the respect for Provence.
01:16But it's two different races, but yeah, I look forward to doing this race.
01:23Another man to watch is Caden Groves, who boasts seven stage victories at la Vuelta.
01:29Winner of the points classification here in 23 and 24, the Aussies looking to open his account for 26.
01:35Yeah, it's a super, super tricky final actually.
01:38It's going to be a hot stage, up and down all day and always sort of twisty road.
01:44So yeah, I think it's going to be a really tough stage, and especially this final,
01:48but I expect a small breakaway controlled by Visma to try and take the red jersey today with Van Aert.
01:54So I expect a bunch sprint, but it's a super hard final, so you have to see how the legs
01:59are.
02:00Stage two is one of just two at this Vuelta to break the 200k mark.
02:05Officially, there are only two categorised climbs, but it's up and down all day long before that tricky uphill sprint
02:11in Manosk.
02:16Well, there were four riders in the breakaway today, including the man in the green jersey, Ethan Hayter,
02:21who began level on time with Pogacar.
02:23If he could hold on until the intermediate sprint with 36k to go and take some bonus seconds,
02:29he had a chance of snatching the red jersey.
02:32Hayter joined by a couple of riders from the Spanish wildcard teams,
02:36Diego Uriate of Kern Farmer and Sinue Fernandez of Burgos,
02:40also in the stage two breakaway at last year's Vuelta.
02:43Kern Bauman was also up there for Jayco Alula, targeting polka dot points,
02:48and he collected enough to be the first official King of the Mountains at this Vuelta.
02:53In the peloton, Lidl Trek and Visma Lisebike were taking turns on the front,
02:57keeping things tight for Pedersen and Van Aert.
03:00The four men at the front were given very little freedom,
03:03the gap creeping down to around one minute as they entered the final 100km.
03:13The race situation stayed pretty much the same for around 50km as they wound their way through the stunning Gorge
03:20du Verdun.
03:22Visma Lisebike finally started to up the tempo as they approached the intermediate sprint in Gréau-les-Bains.
03:28The Dutch squad determined to help Van Aert take the red jersey,
03:31but Hayter being at the front was putting a bit of a spanner in the works.
03:34A maximum haul for the British rider could theoretically put him out of reach of the sprinters.
03:40And soon he decided to go it alone, with Bauman sitting up having done his job of securing the polka
03:45dot jersey,
03:46and Fernandez and Uriate unable to stay with Hayter.
03:49The peloton had closed to within around 10 seconds,
03:52but by the time they caught the remains of the breakaway, it was back up to over 20.
03:57Hayter embarking on another individual time trial to get to the intermediate sprint before the peloton.
04:03If he did, he would be guaranteed the red jersey as long as he wasn't gapped in the final.
04:10Job well done indeed. The virtual leader in the green jersey competition, the virtual leader in the general classification.
04:18Well Hayter was soon caught as they hurtled their way towards the finish line.
04:22Sprint teams and GC teams jostling for position,
04:26with everybody determined to get their leaders in a good position before the road began to rise.
04:30The front group being whittled down as they entered Manosk.
04:34And then, with just 2km to go, Van Aert launched a surprise attack, with Pogaccia trying to get back on
04:40the wheel.
04:43A big move, and this is while Van Aert tries to go clear.
04:46He's quickly being chased down by the red jersey, Taddy Pogaccia.
04:50More riders coming across, but this was an elite group.
04:54As Van Aert predicted, it would be a sprint for the strongmen.
04:58Now starting to make a move, it's Finn Fischer-Black of Red Bull Bora,
05:01looking for his first Grand Tour stage victory.
05:04Matthew Brennan in second wheel on Grand Tour debut.
05:08Can he deliver here into Manosk?
05:10Mads Pedersen, who knows this final very, very well.
05:13He's already won here two times previously.
05:15Now he starts to open up the gas.
05:17Taddy Pogaccia is there in the red jersey, going for glory.
05:21Matthew Brennan, all the way being challenged by Mads Pedersen.
05:24But Matthew Brennan, the British rider from Visma Lisa Bike, on Grand Tour debut,
05:29is going to take his first Grand Tour stage victory.
05:35Visma Lisa Bike played the team game to perfection today,
05:38with Wad Van Aert making that first move,
05:40and then Christophe Laporte leading out Matthew Brennan for a blistering sprint.
05:45At just 21 years of age, the British rider clearly has a very bright future ahead of him.
05:51This, already his eighth win of 2026.
05:56I mean, hopefully it's not the last one, because it's nice.
05:59I think, yeah, again, boys work all day really well.
06:04And they really, really gave it 100%.
06:07And believed in both of us that we could achieve something successful today.
06:13And, yeah, I'm really happy to kind of start off this way.
06:17Brennan securing his 20th career victory in style, beating some of the best in the business.
06:22And there was an impressive second place for Pal Mikel, his fourth of the season, with Pogaccia in third.
06:29The Slovenian stays in red, with Hayter getting dropped in the final after all of his efforts and losing 31
06:35seconds.
06:36Van Aert climbs to second, still at nine seconds, with Brennan now third.
06:41Pogaccia also retains the green jersey after picking up 22 points for third place.
06:46He leads Hayter by five points and Brennan by 12.
06:51Bauman is the early king of the mountains, having notched six points on the climbs today.
06:56He is two points ahead of Uriate.
07:02And a change of white jersey, with Brennan taking over from Josh Tarling as the best young rider.
07:08Stage three features the first summit finish of this Vuelta in Fort Humor.
07:13Do join us for that on Monday.
07:14And thanks for watching.
