Vuelta a España stage 2 LIVE: Visma-Lease a Bike lead chase of Hayter in the break as fight for red hots up

The gap is steady for now at 1’30”.

2026-08-23T11:47:16.264Z

The gap continues to fall with the peloton now at just 1’32” from the leaders as Fernandez finally makes it a group of four out front.

2026-08-23T11:46:08.439Z

In the break, Bouwman has experience of going for the mountains jersey in a Grand Tour. He won it at the Giro as well as two stages back in 2022.

2026-08-23T11:45:06.381Z

Lidl-Trek join Visma-Lease a Bike on the front of the peloton. Pedersen would have to win the intermediate sprint and the stage to go level on time with Pogačar and Hayter.

I don’t know if that will give him red. Depends if Pogačar or Hayter finish below 15th in the stage or not as that is the Danes finishing position yesterday.

1. Bouwman (JAY) 3pts
2. Uriate (EKP) 2pts
3. Hayter (SOQ) 1pt

First points in the KOM standings handed out.

Hayter, Bouwman and Uriate have 20″ on Fernandez but just 2’00” on the peloton led by Visma-Lease a Bike who want to give Wout Van Aert a chance to go into red at the end of the day. Van Aert starts today 9″ down in GC on Pogačar and Hayter. If Hayter gets any bonuses at the intermediate sprint, it will not be possible for Van Aert to go into red.

2026-08-23T11:28:10.603Z

Fernandez is still pushing and is 55″ away from the front of the race, but the gap to the peloton is shrinking with the leaders now only holding 2’30” on the peloton with Fernandez now 1’35” ahead of the pack.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-08-23T11:26:07.223Z

It is a long day out front for Hayter but the intermediate sprint, with 48km to go, has 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available. Any would see him take virtual red. But, there’s about 140km between him and that point in the race.

2026-08-23T11:24:38.982Z

And Hayter joins the leaders Bouwman and Uriate with around 5km to the top of the climb.

2026-08-23T11:23:27.267Z

It looks like the leaders are waiting for Hayter as the gap is shrinking rapidly to him but they have also lost 30″ to the peloton.

2026-08-23T11:22:51.299Z

Bouwman and Uriate still have 33″ on Hayter despite having a big lead on the peloton with Fernandez still at 1’25”.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-08-23T11:18:50.181Z

The riders are on the first climb of the day, the Alto Châteauneuf-Grasse. All the climbs have a little bit of Spanish to them as it is La Vuelta, that is why the Alto is there. Cat 3 climb at 13km with a gentle average gradient of 2.9%. There are 3, 2 and 1 points available at the top.

2026-08-23T11:14:49.487Z

The leaders are being reported as Koen Bouwman (Jayco-AlUla) and Diego Uriarte (Kern Pharma). They have a gap of 3’28” on the peloton.

2026-08-23T11:13:57.638Z

Hayter is 35″ off the back of the leaders. He is not joined by Paret-Peintre as previously reported. Fernandez is now at 1’28” from the leaders but 2’00” ahead of the peloton. They have let Hayter go!

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-08-23T11:08:02.548Z

Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quickstep) is said to be in the second chase group along with teammate and second overall, Ethan Hayter!

It has been a very aggressive start to racing on the roads of south eastern France.

2026-08-23T11:06:13.897Z

Sinuhé Fernández (Burgos-Burpellet-BH) is in the third group on the road as he tries to bridge the 45″ gap to the leaders.

2026-08-23T11:02:18.867Z

Suddenly, there’s groups strewn across the road with the two leaders out front with 1’10” gap on the peloton with two chase groups in the gap.

2026-08-23T11:00:10.272Z

Its Slovenia central at La Vuelta this year! Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Roman Ermakov (Bahrain Victorious) having a chat in the bunch.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-08-23T10:57:31.820Z

Two riders are clear of the bunch by 17″ but will surely want company.

2026-08-23T10:53:03.693Z

But the first moves are swiftly caught.

2026-08-23T10:52:29.564Z

Attacks firing off the front immediately to try and form the early breakaway.

Racing gets underway in France now that the riders have left Monaco. The long race to Manosque begins.

💪 Here is the real start of the first classical road stage! Let’s gooo
😍 ¡Salida lanzada para la primera etapa en línea! ¡Vamos!
#LaVuelta26

2026-08-23T10:48:14.046Z

The racing hasn’t got underway just yet as riders return to the peloton after various issues.

2026-08-23T10:45:20.579Z

Mechanical for Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ) may delay things slightly.

2026-08-23T10:41:44.492Z

The racing is due to start any moment now.

2026-08-23T10:31:56.749Z

Jerseys:

Red – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)
Green – Tadej Pogačar (UAX)*
Polka dots – Technically not owned but worn by Callum Thornley (RBH)
White – Josh Tarling (NCI)

*Worn by – Ethan Hayter (SOQ)

2026-08-23T10:25:01.204Z

The riders rolled out almost half an hour ago in Monaco.

📍𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎
💪 Stage 2️⃣ neutral start!
🙌 ¡Salida neutralizada de la etapa 2️⃣!
#LaVuelta26

The riders have rolled out of the start in Monaco. Hayter starts the race in the green skinsuit but on the same time as Pogačar. Could the British rider maybe take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint?

There are 6, 4 and 2 bonus seconds available in Gréoux-les-Bains with just under 50km of the stage remaining. It would take a lot of managing by his Soudal-Quickstep team.

2026-08-23T09:53:03.098Z

Full red but no custom bike just yet as he continues to ride the super lightweight Colnago that has almost no paint on the frame.

2026-08-23T09:02:56.681Z

It wasn’t a huge surprise to anyone last night that Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took the win, but the margin of victory was incredible. Just 0.09 of a second split the five time Tour de France victor and the British TT champion Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quickstep) on the line in the principality famed for tight margins in Formula 1.

Hola! Welcome to live updates on stage 2 of La Vuelta a España here on Cyclingnews.