Switzerland’s Michael Albasini of the GreenEdge team claimed his second straight win at the Tour of Catalonia by sprinting to victory on stage two Tuesday.
The 31-year-old, 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.
Albasini, 31, held the race lead going into yesterday’s hilly stage three between Vall d’En Bas and Port-Aine with a 1 minute, 32 second lead on Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) and Frenchman Mikael Cherel (FDJ-BigMat).
Photo: EPA
Including a total of four climbs over 201km, stage three was expected to host a battle between the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Bradley Wiggins and Andy Schleck — all three of whom harbor 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 minutes, 10 seconds behind most of the race favorites.
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.
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