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Yury Trofimov (Bouygues Telecom) wins stage 2 in the Basque, as Sanchez retains the lead

Danielson pulls out sick

Published: Apr. 7, 2009

Yury Trofimov (Bouygues Telecom) upset the chasing peloton to win Tuesday’s second stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco in Spain after slipping away in a four-man breakaway in the six-climb, 160km route.

Trofimov dropped fellow escapee Rein Taarame (Cofidis) with 2.5km to go and crossed the line five seconds clear to celebrate a hard-fought victory. Ben Swift (Katusha) led the main pack across the line with third at 1:10 back.

Luís León Sánchez (Caisse d’Epargne), winner of Monday’s opening stage, finished safely at the front of the bunch sprint to retain his grip on the overall leader’s jersey.

There were no major shake-ups in the overall in the standings, though Alexandr Kolobnev (Saxo Bank) slotted into second place based on placement of the final sprint.

Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) slipped from second to fifth based on placement, but without time bonuses, the leading 21 riders from Monday’s opening stage all remain at the same time.

Betting it all

There was a flurry of attacks in the opening kilometers of the six-climb, 160km second stage from Ataun to Villatuerta. The day’s first obstacle was the second-category Alto de Lizarrusti at 12.5km, quickly followed by the Cat. 1 Alto de Lizarraga at 34km.

Four riders pulled clear to set the day’s main break, with Manuel Vázquez (Contentpolis-Ampo), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), Trofimov and Taarame riding away. Cold and wind slowed down the chase.

With no one in the breakaway presenting a major threat to the GC riders, the favorites were content to let the attackers have their chance.

The gap grew to seven minutes at the Cat. 3 Alto de Guiriguillano at 95km when Caisse d’Epargne took up the chase.

Lampre’s Marzio Bruseghin also helped, and with some strong crosswinds, the main pack momentarily split under the pressure. Taarame and Trofimov dropped Vázquez and Mollema on the Cat. 3 Alto de Lazaun with 25km to go to nurse a three-minute lead.

Trofimov dropped Taarame for good with about 2.5km to go, when the peloton was breathing down their necks at just 1:25 back.

Danielson sick, pulls out

American Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) was among the day’s six non-starters and abandons.
“The night before the race I got really sick,” Danielson said on the team’s Web page. “I had a fever, etc… I did my best finishing hoping it was something that would pass quickly, but that was not the case as I woke up this morning worse.”

“I met with Matt Rabin, one of the team’s doctors, this afternoon. We have a good course of action now for this week. I’ve had some really good training the last nine days so this rest won’t be such a bad thing. I am just upset to leave the team from such a nice race. They will do well this week.”
Two riders from Fuji-Servetto also pulled out, leaving the Spanish team with just six riders.

“It was a bad day for us because of the abandons of Capecchi and Del Nero,” said team manager Joxean Fernández Matxin. “Tomorrow will decide who will not win the race and the day of the time trial will do decide who will win.”

Wedneday’s stage

The Tour of the Basque Country continues Wednesday with a decisive summit finish that should put a dramatic mark on the GC.

The five-climb, 172.5km third stage from Villatuerta to Eibar tackles the Cat. 1 Alto de Ixua twice in the final 35km, climbing 350 vertical meters in just 3.7km.

Defending champion Alberto Contador (Astana), 10th in GC with the same time as the favorites, says he’s quietly optimistic for Wednesday’s throwdown.

“It depends a lot on how the weather is. If everything is normal, there’s a list of riders with more options of winning the stage and among them, perhaps the favorite is Cunego, because he’s strong and very fast,” Contador said. “Colom, Rodriguez, Evans and Samuel (Sanchez) can mark differences. I will try to be among the favorites fighting for the victory.”