Impey delivers Orica-GreenEdge's second straight Pais Vasco stage win

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Daryl Impey continued Orica-GreenEdge's run of success at the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco as he scored the team's second straight stage win following Simon Gerrans's victory on the opening day yesterday.

Gerrans, the overnight race leader, as well as teammate Michael Matthews played a key role in the stage 2 lead-out for Impey as the South African prevailed in Vitoria for the second straight year. Gerrans stretched out the peloton through the flamme rouge and handed off to Matthews who provided Impey an armchair ride to the final 200 metres. Francesco Gavazzi (Astana Pro Team) finished second on the stage and moved into the leader's jersey while Angel Vicioso (Katusha) rounded out the top three.

"It's a fantastic win," said Impey. "It was a bit like last year, really. The whole team was involved with the result. Christian [Meier] and [Michael] Albasini did all of the early work. Wes (Wesley Sulzberger), Clarkey (Simon Clarke) and Pieter Weening did their bit in the final. From there, I had two of the fastest guys in the race as my lead-out.

"Most of the job was already done by the time I started my sprint. I was in a great position, and I had a really good legs. When you have the guy in the yellow jersey doing the lead-out, it really highlights the team's commitment to one another."

While stage runner-up Gavazzi was frustrated in missing out on his first victory of the season, nevertheless he'll be starting stage three in the leader's jersey. Since there are no time bonuses in place, the 28-year-old Italian takes over the general classification lead based on stage placings and is tied on time with 16 other riders. Vicioso holds second overall followed by Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in third.

"We had a strong headwind in the sprint, and I knew that Orica-GreenEdge had the strongest sprint train here, so I sat behind them in the finish," said Gavazzi. "It's always better to win a stage than come second, but to take the leader's jersey is a fantastic consolation."

Gavazzi is realistic about his stint in the leader's jersey and with plenty of climbing in store ahead plus a concluding time trial he looks to his teammates for the final podium.

"Jakob [Fuglsang] is riding really well, and the profile of this race is hilly with some very steep and long climbs," said Gavazzi. "I can get over the hills, but I am not the favorite. We have a plan to get Astana to the podium here at Pais Vasco, and with the time trial on the final day we have very good chances at this race."

Txurruka on the attack

The 170km stage from Elgoibar to Vitoria was dominated by a solo attack from mountains leader Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), also a protagonist on the opening stage, who took off from the peloton in the opening kilometres. The 30-year-old Spaniard's maximum lead extended to over five minutes as the he proceeded to build his KOM leadership by scoring maximum points on the stages's first four of five categorised climbs.

On the run-up to the penultimate ascent, with approximately 30km remaining, Jens Voigt (RadioShack Leopard) jumped away from the peloton and was joined by Adriano Malori (Lampre-Merida). The two chasers crested the Alto de San Martin 23 seconds in arrears of Txurruka while the peloton trailed the lone leader by 50 seconds at the summit.

Voigt and Malori caught Txurruka, who latched on to the back of the powerhouse duo in hopes of reaching the day's final climb still clear of the peloton. With 20km remaining the trio's lead stood at one minute, but their cohesion fractured once the road tipped upwards for the day's final climb. Txurruka would be the first to falter, followed by Voigt as the former Italian time trial champion pushed on solo.

Malori topped the Alto de Zaldiaran summit with a narrow 15-second advantage on the peloton with Voigt digging deep to just fend off their advance and earn second place KOM honours.

On the descent to the finish Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondial) and José Herrada (Movistar) bridged to Malori, but once the road flattened in the stage's endgame the break would be neutralised with five kilometres remaining, setting up a spirited field sprint finale.