Albasini wins second straight stage at Catalunya

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GreenEdge's recent run of stellar results continues as Michael Albasini today won back-to-back stages at the Volta a Catalunya with a sprint victory from an elite 31-rider selection in Girona. The 31-year-old Swiss, wearing the race leader's jersey, outkicked Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Rigoberto Uran (Sky) for the win.

Albasini, a solo winner on stage one, remains in the lead of general classification by 1:32 over the 30 riders who finished with him today. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) holds second overall, with Mikael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale) in third.

"It was fantastic to win yesterday and have the leader's jersey today," said Albasini on the team's website. "To win a stage in the jersey is a good feeling. I'm happy to pay back my teammates with one more victory after they worked so hard for me the whole day."

As the day's early break was swept up with 42km remaining in the 161km stage, the scene was set for a showdown on the final climb, the category 1-rated climb Alt dels Angels whose summit was situated 14km from the finish. Omega Pharma-Quickstep set a furious tempo at the head of affairs which quickly shed all but the elite climbers as the road sloped upwards.

BMC's Tejay Van Garderen made a probing attack approximately half way up the climb, and was soon joined by Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quickstep). Garmin-Barracuda riders quickly brought the duo back into the clutches of the lead group, and once again Omega Pharma-Quickstep resumed their position as pacemakers.

The front group remained together under the impetus of Omega Pharma-Quickstep until Daniel Martin (Garmin-Barracuda) attacked over the summit and was joined by Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) and Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM) on the descent.

The trio held a slim 10-second advantage as they flew down the switchbacked parcours, but once the road flattened and straightened out in the closing kilometres their attack was neutralised.

British champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky) put in a lengthy pull at the head of the peloton through the flamme rouge and into sight of the finish line in support of teammate Rigoberto Uran. Albasini, however, has a quick turn of speed when sprinting amongst climbers and he was perfectly positioned behind Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), who in turn was on Uran's wheel. As Wiggins pulled off and Uran started to sprint, Albasini jumped from Cataldo's wheel and uncorked a sprint to which none of his rivals had an answer.

A notable omission from the lead group at the finish was Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who crashed while exiting the second feed zone with approximately 55km to go. The Spaniard never regained contact with the hard-charging front group despite having several teammates to assist in the pace-making efforts. He ultimately crossed the finish line 2:09 behind Albasini at the head of a 38-rider strong chase group which puts him at 101st on general classification, 4:01 off the pace.

"Just as we were heading out of the feed zone, there was a bottle on the road, the front wheel got over it and I crashed on my right side against a curb," said Valverde. "I got on my feet again but I was feeling mostly dizzy after the crash and I lost some time prior to departing again. I was a bit out of consciousness, it was hard to get back on racing pace and that's why it was difficult to bridge.

"These things happen: sometimes everything's good, sometimes everything goes wrong. The route was really good for me, but this is a rider's life. Leaving the bad side apart, we have to be happy. I have much pain, especially on the right side, in my shoulder. Let's see how we rest and wake up to evaluate what we can do tomorrow."

At the start of the Volta a Catalunya's second stage a three-man break formed after just 12km, comprised of Jordi Simon (Andalucia), Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Caja Rural) and Cyril Bessy (Saur-Sojasun). The trio pushed out a maximum lead in excess of seven minutes, but the peloton ultimately brought them back with 42km remaining.

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