March 25/14 14:06 pm - Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Stage 2

Posted by Editoress on 03/25/14
 

Luka Mezgec took his second consecutive stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya with an imperious finishing sprint. Already a winner on yesterday’s opening stage, Luka had to come from a long way back in a frantic finish, choosing to sprint on the opposite side of the road to the pack and coming across the line with bike lengths to spare.

With Luka in the leader’s jersey, Team Giant-Shimano were once again in the driving seat during today’s stage. They took up the chase behind the day’s breakaway of six riders and keep their advantage in check as the weather conditions deteriorated and set up a testing day in the saddle.

The race came back together just five kilometres from the finish line and with Luka and the team having navigated the small climbs en-route, they set about positioning themselves for the finish.

They safely made it through the roundabouts in the final few kilometres, putting their Vittoria tyres to good use on the wet Spanish roads, and coming into the final 500m Luka was sitting a bit far back in around 10th position.

As the peloton dived down the left hand side of the road, Luka popped out of the line, headed over to the right and powered past everyone, leaving the rest to fight for second place. A superb sprint win that sees him conserve the overall lead as the race heads to the mountains tomorrow.

The sprinting sensation of the race, Luka, said: “My sprint has really come on after working hard over the winter with the team coaches and experts and it’s great to feel the hard work paying off now.

“I have to thank my teammates for their hard work again today. It is never easy when it is wet and cold but they were great.

“The hills we fine today, much easier than on paper. We had to push hard to get Voeckler back in the end but after that it wasn’t too hectic as the race was strung out and the guys had put me in position.

“I was freezing on the bike on the downhill at the end and was a bit unsure of how the legs would react in the sprint. At 500m to go I was not in perfect position but when I jumped my legs were good.”

“Luka made it look easy but from experience the easier it looks, the harder it is,” said coach Addy Engels at the finish in Girona. “The plan today was to honour the jersey and ride for another bunch sprint, and thankfully we got some more help from other teams today.

“With six riders the break was manageable and the guys rode strong again to keep them in check. We had studied the finish before the stage and knew that you had to be well positioned before the roundabouts. The goal was to get Luka through the last roundabout at the front and then see what support he had but with all the work the guys did before he was a bit isolated.

“He kept his cool and went from a long way out, but flew past everyone. he knew from yesterday that he could get through the final 500m on his own if needed and he showed his power once again here today.”

Team Giant-Shimano press release

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) finished 50th on the stage and Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEDGE) 159th

Results from the second stage in Spain