Ruta del Sol 2016: Bouhanni to take stage 2 and GC lead

At 177 kilometres, Ruta del Sol's 2nd stage in 2016 leads to Córdoba. A climb with 20 kilometres left shatters the peloton, but once in the streets of Cordoba around fourty riders are back in the race. Nacer Bouhanni is fastest as he bests Fabio Felline on the line. In doing so the Frechman also takes the overall lead. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results stage 2 Ruta del Sol

1. Nacer Bouhanni (fra)
2. Fabio Felline (ita) s.t.
3. Ben Swift (gbr) s.t.
4. Christophe Laporte (fra) s.t.
5. Raymond Kreder (nld) s.t.
6. Juan José Lobato (spa) s.t.
7. Tosh Van der Sande (bel) s.t.
8. Kiel Reijnen (usa) s.t.
9. Enrico Battaglin (ita) s.t.
10. Mateo Busato (ita) s.t.

GC after stage 2
1. Nacer Bouhanni (ita)
2. Juan José Lobato (spa) s.t.
3. Raymond Kreder (nld) s.t.
4. Ben Swift (gbr) s.t.
5. Tosh Van der Sande (bel) s.t.
6. Reto Hollenstein (swi) s.t.
7. Kiel Reijnen (usa) s.t.
8. Daniele Bennati (ita) s.t.
9. Enrique Sanz (spa) s.t.
10. Enrico Battaglin (ita) s.t.

Race report
It takes a while for the break of the day to take shape. Then Reinier Honig, Pablo Torres, Ruben Pols and Aitor González race to a maximum 3’45” lead before Tinkoff takes control and keeps the break on a leash at around 3 minutes.

While climbing the Alto de Trassierra the break is history. Siutsov goes solo. Behind him the pack explodes and he begins the drop with a small gain over Tim Wellens who soon takes over. More and more riders knock on the front door and once in Cordoba we have a small peloton of around fourty riders who are going to sprint for victory.

Nacer Bouhanni is not only among them, the Frenchman is fastest, securing the leaders jersey while he is at it.