Vuelta al Pais Vasco: Landa wins hilltop finish in Garrastatxu

Team Sky's Mikel Landa took a home victory during the second stage of Pais Vasco on Tuesday. The Basque rider rode away from the select group on the final climb with Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and attacked with roughly 100 metres to go to take the stage win.

Kelderman crossed the line in second place one second back, while Sergio Henao (Team Sky) jumped ahead of the chase group to take third.

Landa’s efforts bumped him up into the overall race lead by one second ahead of Kelderman. Henao is sitting in third place at five seconds back.

The second stage of Pais Vasco brought the first real test for the overall contenders with a steep 2km kick to the finish line in Garrastatxu that boasted 19% grades in some sections.

The 174.2km stage also included and initial climb out of Markina Xemein and then continued on an undulating path toward the first categorised climb of the day Alto de Untzella (Cat 3) followed by the Alto de Krutzeta (Cat 2). The riders then did a bit of descending before hitting the Aldo de Mendeika (Cat 3).

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) won the opening stage after a two-up sprint against Cofidis’ Daniel Navarro, and so he started the day in the yellow jersey.

In the first 30km a group of four riders worked their way off the front of the field. With two Lampre-Merida riders only 18 seconds down in the overall classification in that group, it was destined to be reabsorbed into the field. Two of the riders in that move continued on and formed what was the day’s decisive breakaway.

Stefan Denifil (IAM Cycling) and Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) held a lead of over three minutes with 30km to go. That gap dropped drastically over the next 15km, dipping to under a minute, and then to a mere 10 seconds with 10km to go.

With the two riders back in the mix with 8km to go, Team Sky, Cannondale and Movistar moved forward battling for prime position heading into the final climb to the finish.

Team Sky did the lion’s share of the work up to the 5km to go banner, while Orica-GreenEdge, Lotto Soudal and Katusha pulled up along side the British team.

With no time bonus at the finish line at Pais Vasco, each stage is all about the finish and being able to put time into rivals. Team Sky held solid at the front with three riders but peeled off and moved in behind rival teams that pushed forward.

The road narrowed and LottoNL-Jumbo was the first into the base of the climb followed by a rider from each of Cannondale, Team Sky and Orica-GreenEdge.

AG2R-La Mondiale’s Blel Kadri was the first to make an attack as the slopes steepened and Team Sky and LottoNL-Jumbo responded.

It was Wilco Kelderman (LottoNL-Jumbo) who led the race with 1.6km to go with local rider Mikel Landa (Team Sky) on his wheel. The pair hit the steeper 18% ramps together and picked up 14 seconds on the chasers with just under 1km to the top.

Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) jumped out of the chase group and tried to bridge to the two leaders, followed by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) and Sammy Sanchez (BMC), Sergio Henao (Team Sky) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

With 700 metres to go, the slopes let up slightly to 12% an then 9%, and Landa led Kelderman through the crowds near the top. Landa attacked Kelderman around the final bend to take the stage for Team Sky, leaving Kelderman in second. Henao raced across the line in third place giving Team Sky two riders on the day’s podium.

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