Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) wins to everyone's surprise on the 2nd stage of the Vuelta

After a very contested inaugural time trial due to the lack of light, the weather conditions and the final route of the day prompted the riders and the organizers not to take the times at the finish but 9km from the line, before the ascent and especially the descent of Montjuïc.

The start of the race was marked by a breakaway of 5 men in which appeared Bol, rider of Burgos BH. As the final approached, falls followed one another and the great leaders of the general classification got up again after the famous passage to 9 kilometers. Only about twenty kamikazes are therefore playing a prestigious victory in the capital of Catalonia. In the steepest slopes of the difficulty of the day, a real justice of the peace, we first witness an attack by Remy Rochas (Cofidis) who aborts a mouse but allows Andreas Kron to counter and isolate himself just before the swing.

Despite a soggy surface and the accumulation of dead leaves that had fallen due to the driving rain, he managed to keep a precious lead and take a memorable victory just a stone's throw from the 1992 Olympic Stadium.

A victory in the form of a tribute after the death in training of his young teammate Tijl De Becker: "This one is for you, Tijl!"

Photo credit: Photo News / Getty Images