Vuelta a Espana 2024 Stage 2 LIVE – UAE ready to defend red with Brandon McNulty, as Wout van Aert goes stage hunting

Confirmation that he's taken over the red jersey, thanks to the six bonus seconds awarded for finishing second on the stage. My screen says Kung is now in third but I don't think that's right, unless Vacek was somehow gapped. Pretty sure the Swiss roller is the new King of the Mountains, however.

A big hole in the shoulder of his jersey, but otherwise looking better than when he was sitting on the roadside.

Both also took hit but look to be okay. Tarling is the one we're most concerned about.

It was relatively straight forward in the end. Everyone waited for Wout who sat on the wheel of his team-mate Affini for as long as he could. Groves was happy to blast off the wheel of the green jersey, going straight down the middle. Corbin Strong was coming up behind but he had too much to do. Van Aert takes second, and the overall race lead.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Tarling took the biggest hit. We'll come back to this.

Great timing. They're all in for Bittner.

Gaps are still possible so they've not disappeared completely. Vigilance always vital. Alpecin have backed off a bit but they've definitely lost riders.

It's an incredibly fast few kilometres before the drag up into the finish in town. Looks like we're in for a big bunch finish. The last ten minutes has averaged nearly 58kph.

They've got plenty of confidence in Kaden Groves, if that's anything to go by. Too much? Robbie McEwan thinks they should leave some of this labour up to Red Bull or QuickStep, lest they find themselves short on firepower in the finale. As it is some of their own men are being spat out the back.

Through 15km and the bar is closed, with no more bottles or bars to be taken from the roadside or cars. They can still hand them out to each other, of course. This is the moment that Vacek makes it back on, so he should still be in white tomorrow (unless Josh Tarling takes first or second at the finish, which seems very unlikely.)

He's clearly enjoyed wearing the jersey because someone has to. As long as he finishes ahead of Mate today, he'll be wearing it tomorrow as well. Nicely done Mr Swiss.

That should help Vacek a but. 1km from the summit now. Alpecin, Red Bull and Decathlon all making sure they're at the front of things.

Although that's actually measured from the front of the group, so it might not be as bad as it looks. Still, a tough chase for him as the team cars sweep on by.

Some of the fans on the climb were getting a little too rambunctious and participatory, so that may have somehow been the cause. Vacek looks uninjured but needs a new bike. He shouldn't have much trouble of getting back in contact on these gradients, at the speed the bunch is going.

The Alto da Batalha is 7km long, but said to average barely 3.3%. It's easily shallow enough for teams who want to control things to continue doing so. Will anyone try their luck? You'd imagine Mate would be the most motivated to secure the jersey outright, otherwise he probably has to beat the rider who does take the points.

Stefak Kung and Kevin Geniets are two of them, Kobe Gossens the other. But Attila Valter (Visma Lease A Bike) is having none of it. Shut down complete, but the race is very much on.

An unclassified climb sees an attack out of the bunch from Mauri Vansevenant (T-Rex Quickstep.) Marc Soler is tasked with following. Will he contribute? Will others come across?

This wide highway across which the bunch is spread and squat means it's not too far back to the cars for drinks. Even Sepp Kuss is getting in on the act, presumably for Wout van Aert. Won't hurt when the favour needs to be returned later in the race.