In-form French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni claimed his second straight stage win in the Tour of Catalonia on Tuesday after his Cofidis team set him up perfectly in a bunch sprint.
Bouhanni was released by his lead-out train 250 metres from home and crossed the line a bike length clear of Belgian duo Gianni Meersman and Philippe Gilbert, who wore black armbands in honour of the victims of bomb attacks in the Belgian capital Brussels earlier in the day.
Bouhanni extended his overall lead after the 178km second stage between Mataro and Olot, but expects to give it up as the race heads into the mountains today.
It was a fourth win of the season for the 25-year-old Frenchman who also won a stage of the Tour of Andalusia and another on the Paris-Nice, although he revealed he’d been feeling off-colour going into the stage.
“I went to see the doctor early in the race, I had a bad stomach,” said the up-and-coming sprinter. “I’ll have to clench my teeth in the mountains, I hope it’s okay tomorrow.
“There are a couple more stages which may come down to a sprint,” he said. After a four-man break including Belgium’s Thomas De Gendt failed to open a lead any greater than three minutes, largely thanks to Cofidis keeping them within sight, the second stage was at the mercy of Cofidis’ well-disciplined sprint train.
Overall race favourites including climb specialists Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana and Fabio Aru are all loitering 20 seconds adrift. In a fast last five kilometres the duo moved to the front of the peloton and stayed high up in the bunch as race leader Bouhanni won his second sprint in as many days.
Ben Swift, who finished second behind Bouhanni on day one, was unable to fully launch his sprint but remains second overall, 14 seconds back on the Frenchman.
The team worked hard in the closing stages and were prevalent at the front of the bunch as the riders headed towards the finish in Olot, with Ian Boswell, Vasil Kiryienka and Nicolas Roche all putting in big stints.
The 178km stage had always looked destined to end in a bunch sprint, and the day’s four-man break never built a substantial lead. After the final intermediate sprint the break was reduced to three, before Thomas De Gendtaunched a solo attack 25km from the line.
He extended his gap to almost a minute but the peloton quickly caught the Belgian and with 15km left the expected bunch finish was on. The race hotted up inside the final few kilometres with a small descent stringing the peloton out, but Bouhanni remained calm and collected to secure back-to-back wins.
Today’s third stage over 172km finishes at altitude (1725m) at the Pyrenean ski resort of La Molina and features four category one climbs.
Results after the second stage
Stage
1. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA/COF) 4:3;10s
2. Gianni Meersman (BEL/ETI) same time
3. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/BMC) st 4. Alexei Tsatevich (RUS/KAT) s.t.
5. Carlos Barbero (ESP/CJR) s.t., 6. Kiel Reijnen (USA/TRE) s.t.,
7. E Gasparotto (ITA/WGG) s.t.
8. Jonas Van Genechten (BEL/IAM) s.t.
9. Pawel Franzak (POL/VAT) s.t., 10. Kévin Reza (FRA/FDJ) s.t.
Overall standings
1. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA/COF) 9:07;41s
2. Ben Swift (GBR/SKY) at 14sec, 3. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 14
4. Daryl Impey (RSA/ORI) 16
5. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/BMC) 16,
6. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ETI) 16,
7. Louis Vervaeke (BEL/LOT) 17,
8. Javier Moreno (ESP/MOV) 18, 9. R Fernandez (ESP/MOV) 19
10. A Tsatevich (RUS/KAT) 20.