"My job is to keep trying. I'm sure that sooner or later victory will come."

Those were the words of Astana's Valerio Agnoli after stage two at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Agnoli remained at the front of the peloton at 9km to go when the group began to organize for a mass sprint.

Teammates Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev and Luis Leon Sanchez worked with Agnoli and helped the Italian rider finish ninth, in the same time as stage winner Fabio Felline of Italy. Agnoli rose one position in the overall classification and is now seventh behind race leader Michael Matthews of Australia.