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Michael Albasini of Australian pro cycling team GreenEDGE claimed his second straight win at the Tour of Catalonia by sprinting to victory on stage two on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old Swiss rider, who also won the opening stage on Monday, crossed the line ahead of Italy’s Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma) and Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Sky) after a sprint finish following the 161km race around Gerona.
“It was fantastic to win yesterday and have the leader’s jersey today,” Albasini said.
“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.”
Albasini holds the race lead going into Wednesday’s hilly stage between Vall d’En Bas and Port-Aine with a 1:32 lead on Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) and Frenchman Mikael Cherel (FDJ-BigMat).
Including a total of four climbs over 201km, stage three is expected to host a battle between the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Bradley Wiggins and Andy Schleck – all three of whom harbour ambitions in July’s Tour de France.
Valverde’s chances of overall victory this week, however, appear to have vanished after the Spaniard (Movistar) rode over the finish 2:10 behind most of the race favourites.
Albasini’s late attack on the bunch came shortly after a three-man breakaway, which notably included Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre), was caught with 1km remaining.
“I went so hard on the uphill, and I knew there were no pure sprinters left,” Albasini said.
“I thought Cataldo would be one of the fastest guys, so I went on his wheel.
“When he moved up, I followed, and in the end, he gave me the perfect leadout.
“The sprint could not have gone better for me.”
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