Swiss rider Michael Albasini edged a sprint finish to claim victory on the second stage of the Tour of the Basque Country yesterday.
Albasini beat Argentine Ariel Maximiliano Richeze and Belgium’s Sean de Bie into second and third respectively in a time of 4hrs 35mins 22secs for the 173.4km from Pamplona to Eltziego.
“It’s always good to win so early in the season so I’m really happy,” Albasini said. “We knew the finish was really fast, so we had bigger chainrings. I checked out the finish with satellite to know how it is.”
Australian Michael Matthews was fourth and maintains the overall lead after winning Monday’s opening stage.
Pre-race favourites Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador remain on the same time as Matthews, although Contador had another eventful day as he overcame a puncture after crashing inside the final kilometre on Monday. Today’s stage gives the climbers a first chance to separate themselves from the pack with six climbs on the 160.5km ride. 


Flanders winner Gilbert to miss Paris-Roubaix
Belgian Philippe Gilbert will not race at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday following his Tour of Flanders victory last weekend, his Quick Step Floors team said yesterday. The 34-year-old claimed a sensational solo breakaway victory at the prestigious cobbled classic in his homeland on Sunday but won’t be going for the ‘Monument’ double as he needs a rest.
“Paris-Roubaix has a magnetic attraction on me, but I won’t be there this year,” said Gilbert in a statement on Quick Step’s website. “I need to take a break, recover properly and then begin thinking of the Ardennes, where I’ll be part of a very strong team.”
Gilbert has been highly successful at the Ardennes classics these last few years, winning all three in 2011 while also claiming the Amstel Gold race in 2010 and 2014. He has had a great start to 2017, winning Three Days of De Panne last week and taking podium finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke. But he says he will concentrate on a tilt at a second Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory rather than Paris-Roubaix – both are high profile Monument races.