Ahead of some big climbing, Dan Martin is well positioned to strike in Spain in a race he has won outright before.
By Brian Canty
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin have remained inside the top 10 on general classification following today’s second stage of the Volta A Catalunya.
Neither contested the sprint that decided the 191-kilometre leg from Mataro to Olot, with Roche crossing the line in 88th and his cousin in 43rd.
The pair remain 2.48 and 2.49 down on race leader Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polowice) ahead of tomorrow’s third stage which starts and finishes in Girona.
The day belonged to Movistar who notched a fine 1-2 with Alejandro Valverde taking the victory ahead of his teammate Jose Rojas.
The former is now fourth overall at 2:40 with Rojas four seconds further back.
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The stage was straight forward, with just two cat 3 climbs to crest.
So it was no surprise to see the bulk of the peloton cross the line in the same time as Valverde.
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A break that included Sam Bewley (Orica-GreenEdge), Luis Mas Bonet (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Tom Stamsnijder (Giant-Alpecin) and Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida) pulled out over three minutes at one point.
But despite Grmay and Mas Bonet going it alone late on they were reeled in with around 18 kilometres to go to set up the sprint.
Tomorrow’s stage is likely to see a sizeable shift in the standings as there are five climbs, two of which are cat 1 ascents.
They are both the same climb of a mountain known locally as Els Angels which rises to 480 metres.
Its location just before the finish could be a perfect launch pad for an attack as it’s a swift run-in to the finish from there.
Martin will know the roads very well and will be hoping to put that local knowledge to good use.
Stage 2: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 4:33:41
2 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling
4 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement
5 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo
6 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
7 Eduard Prades Reverte (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
8 Fabio Silvestre (Por) Trek Factory Racing
9 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Team Katusha
10 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Astana Pro Team
43 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin
88 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky all same time
General Classification
1 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 9:36:20
2 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:04
3 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:08
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:40
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:44
6 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:02:46
7 Wouter Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:02:47
8 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 0:02:48
9 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:49
10 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:50
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