Britain’s Tom Pidcock sprinted clear on stage two of the Vuelta a Andalucia to claim his fourth victory of the season.
After a sharp final climb Q36.5 rider Pidcock launched his sprint with 150m to go, with his former Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Brandon Rivera finishing second.
Another ex-colleague, Pavel Sivakov, now riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, finished third to take the overall race lead 32 seconds ahead of Pidcock, who rises to third in the general classification in the five-stage event.
Pidcock, who was disappointed to finish eighth on stage one after racing “over-enthusiastically”, was much happier with his performance on Thursday.
“Today I raced really smart. I didn’t have a big panic, I let the race play out, and in the end it was perfect. I know I’m in great shape,” said Pidcock, who celebrated by jumping his bike off a speedbump after the line.
“It’s really nice to get my hands in the air and be up there on GC.”
The 25-year-old has now won three individual stages this year, as well as the general classification at the AlUla Tour in Saudi Arabia.
His latest success arrived on the punchy 133.2km route from Alcaudete to Torredelcampo after he bridged across to the front of the race just under 40km from the finish to be involved in a five-man breakaway.
They comfortably held off a group containing overnight leader Maxim van Gils before Pidcock punched clear to win in style.
