Adrià Pericas takes terrific second place at the Vuelta Asturias

On stage 2 of the Vuelta Asturias between Llanes and Pola de Lena, Adrià Pericas rode to second place for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The young Spaniard was beaten only by the experienced Nairo Quintana (Movistar), with the two climbers now occupying the top two spots in the general classification.

For Pericas, the result is his best of the season, with the 19-year-old settling into his first season as a professional with the Emirati squad. The Spaniard now sits just 31 seconds down on the race lead of Quintana, who claimed the 52nd victory of his career on stage 2.

Over the many climbs of the second stage, Quintana and Pericas emerged as the strongest riders in the race, and spent a considerable amount of time together off the front. It was only late on in the day that Quintana kicked on and left Pericas behind, but the UAE Team Emirates-XRG neo-pro battled hard to limit his losses before the line.

With two stages still to come, Pericas is only 31 seconds down on the leader's jersey, and holds a handsome margin to those chasing him from behind. Speaking after the finish of Friday's stage, Pericas reflected on an afternoon spent in fine company.

Pericas: "It was a really hard race but the legs responded well. I went with Nairo [Quintana] and we worked well together until the last climb where he left me. But I was happy to be there in that company. The team raced really well, unfortunately Jasim had a crash but nothing too serious so we'll fight on again tomorrow."

Vuelta Asturias stage 2 results:

1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 3:22:42

2. Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +26″

3. Diego Pescador (Movistar) +1:21

Vuelta Asturias general classification after stage 2:

1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 6:41:30

2. Adrià Pericas (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +31″

3. Samuel Fernández (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +1:23