The German bike sprinter Pascal Ackermann could not use the first chance to win the mass sprint at the 77th Tour of Spain.
The man from the Palatinate finished the second stage over 175.1 kilometers from s’Hertogenbosch after Utrecht the fifth place. On the second day of the Vuelta guest appearance in the Netherlands, the Irishman Sam Bennett from the German Bora-hansgrohe team clinched the day’s victory ahead of the Danish ex-world champion Mads Pedersen and the Belgian Tim Merlier.
Teunissen new overall leader
Dutchman Mike Teunissen took over the overall lead from his compatriot and teammate Robert Gesink. Both had won the team time trial on Friday with the Jumbo Visma team. This put defending champion Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) in a good position.
In the hilly Vuelta, the sprinters only have five or six chances of a mass finish, two of them in the Netherlands. On Sunday it’s 193.2 kilometers around Breda, all over flat terrain.
Injury is no longer a problem
Ackermann had recently fallen violently at the European Championships in Munich when his head hit a barrier with full force. The 28-year-old was sewn with a few stitches on his finger, which he says does not cause any problems anymore. Ackermann had two stage wins at the Vuelta in 2020.