Jaén, Andújar, Villafranca de Córdoba and Córdoba are the venues for the 2022 edition of the Andalucía Bike Race by Garmin that started last Monday. Tim Smeenge and Teus Ruijter form a duo that will compete with the international marathon top. In the first stage, the KMC duo finished seventeenth behind the German world champion Andreas Seewald with his Czech teammate Martin Stošek. The second stage went less well for both Dutchmen after Smeenge slipped in a descent and couldn’t find his rhythm in the long steep climb. There was no more than twenty-eighth place.
On Wednesday morning, the entire peloton moved from Jaén to Andújar where a fast stage over 70 kilometers was scheduled. Because there was less climbing to do, the differences between the teams were smaller than in the previous two stages. Smeenge and Ruijter came in nineteenth behind the Belgian winner Wout Alleman and his Italian teammate Fabian Rabensteiner, who also managed to win the second stage. Tomorrow there is a time trial over 31 kilometers in Villafranca de Córdoba on the program.