Mike Teunissen conquered the red leader’s jersey in the second stage of the Tour of Spain on Saturday. The Dutch rider of the Jumbo-Visma team finished fourth in the stage, in which the peloton rode 175 kilometers from Den Bosch to Utrecht. Teunissen finished at the Utrecht Science Park behind Irish stage winner Sam Bennett, who won the bunch sprint. The bonus seconds he gained with this put him in the lead of the general classification.
Teunissen takes over the red jersey from his compatriot and teammate Robert Gesink. He was allowed la roja because he was the first to cross the finish line in the team time trial won by his team Jumbo-Visma on Friday. Opposite the NOS Teunissen thanked his teammates and he said “to enjoy tomorrow very much”. Then he wears the jersey in the third stage, which starts and ends in Breda.
Julius van den Berg, the Dutch rider of EF Education-EasyPost, captured the mountain jersey. Van den Berg was the first to climb the Amerongse Berg, which gave him two points for the mountains classification. The organization of the Vuelta a España had renamed the mountain with a height of 66 meters and an average gradient of 3.3 percent as Alto de Amerongse Berg.
The Vuelta starts this year for the second time in the Netherlands. In 2009, the Tour of Spain already started in Assen and this year the cycling race with the team time trial started in Utrecht. After the second stage between Den Bosch and Utrecht, the last stage in the Netherlands will take place on Sunday. On Monday, the peloton will travel to Spain on the rest day to continue the race.