BARCELONA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Andrea Piccolo of Team EF Education Easypost is the new leader of the Vuelta a Espana after a dangerous rain-affected second stage on Sunday.
Piccolo got his reward after being in the escape of the day, which meant he was in the lead when the time for the general classification was taken, well before the finish line.
The heavy rain expected in Barcelona meant the race organizers announced prior to the stage that the riders would be given the times they achieved nine kilometers from the finish line.
This was to avoid riders falling in wet conditions in the streets of Barcelona, as happened on the first stage, when Ineos Grenadiers rider Laurens De Puls broke his pelvis after falling in the rain-soaked team time trial.
The rain began to come down again in the closing kilometers, once again turning the roads into a skating rink for cyclists, and several key riders such as Jonas Vindegaard were shown signaling for the peloton to drop the pace, but even so, overnight leader Lorenzo Milesi (DSM) suffered a crash that meant he lost the overall lead.
With time bonuses still on offer, the closing kilometers were still competitive, although the overall favorites such as Vinegaard, Primoz Rogliz and Remco Evenepoel decided against contesting a stage that was won by Andreas Kron of Lotto Dstny who launched an important attack around three kilometers from the finish.
Monday's stage three should produce some important time differences and perhaps another change of leader as the riders face the first mountain stage that ends in Andorra.
