The 157km stage from Ventura to the Gibraltar Road summit finish was animated by a three-man breakaway made up of Ruben Companioni (Holowesko-Citadel), Adam De Vos (Rally) and UnitedHealthcare's Jonny Clarke.
As was the case with the breakaway on the opening stage, the WorldTour teams were never going to let the Pro Continental teams' riders have too much rope, and the lead maxed-out at five-and-a-half minutes.
The trio's day was over just a couple of kilometres before the day's final climb, and it was strong work on Gibraltar Road by Team Sky, and in particular British youngster Tao Geoghegan Hart, that would set up Bernal for the victory. The 21-year-old Colombian crossed the line 21 seconds ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe's Rafal Majka, and 25 seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
It means that Bernal goes into Tuesday's stage 3 with a 25-second advantage over Majka, and a 31-second lead over Yates.
See how it unfolded in the highlights video below.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
