Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) repeated last year's victory in the Vitoria stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco as he used a textbook lead-out from his team to hold off Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) and Angel Vicioso (Katusha) in the final bunch kick. With his 2nd place, Gavazzi takes over the leader's jersey from Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge).

 

Orica-GreenEdge is on a roll in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. After Simon Gerrans dominant victory in yesterday's tricky final, the team repeated their success in the second stage by setting up Daryl Impey perfectly for the bunch kick. Nobody was able to come around the South African who was clearly the strongest in the final dash to the line.

 

The victory was a repeat of Impey's win in the same city last year when he used a late attack on a rainy day to surprise the sprinters and take his first victory for his new team. Today his previous efforts in the finishing city persuaded his team to work for their usual lead-out man, and he repaid their confidence.

 

The sprint came at the end of an uneventful day where the lone escapee Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural) was kept in firm control by a calm peloton who used the opportunity to save energy for the first big battle among the GC favourites in tomorrow's hard finish. Adriano Malori (Lampre) and Jens Voigt (Radioshack) broke the peloton's lull with an attack inside the final 30km, but with BMC, Orica-GreenEdge and Astana setting a hard tempo, they never had any chance of foiling the sprinters.

 

Inside the final kilometer, it was overall leader Simon Gerrans who set the pace with Michael Matthews and Daryl Impey in tow. Impey was delivered perfectly with a few hundred metres to go, and even though Gavazzi was well-placed in the South African's wheel, he had no chance to come around.

 

In a race without bonus seconds, it is the stage results that determine the GC order of the 17 riders in equal time. With a fourth and second place, Gavazzi takes over the lead from Gerrans. He will try to defend it in tomorrow's stage, but with a hard climb to the finish, he chances are limited, and we should expect the first big battle among the GC favourites.

 

Starting at 14.45, you can follow the battle on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

 

Txurruka sets off

On paper, the stage to Vitoria was the easiest in the race, and everybody expected the race's sprinters to keep the racing firm under control to exploit their only remaining opportunity in the race. After two steep climbs inside the opening 50km, the riders reached a flat plateau, and the monotony was only interrupted by three easy category 3-climbs. The last one was located with 9km remaining, and after a short descent, it was a flat, fast run-in to the finish in Vitoria.

 

With most riders expecting the sprinters' teams to control proceedings, there was no big fight to enter the early breakaway. Yesterday's escapee Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural) was allowed to take off in a solo attempt, and he quickly built up a gap of more than 5 minutes.

 

Orica-GreenEdge control the peloton

Orica-GreenEdge with race leader Gerrans decided to stabilize the advantage, and Cristian Meier and Michael Albasini set a steady pace at the front of the peloton while the GC favourites made sure to stay near the front behind the working duo.

 

In the front, Txurruka managed to score maximum points on the day's climbs and in the intermediate sprints to extend his overall lead in the mountains and sprint competitions. Behind, his teammate Andre Cardoso protected the lead by cresting the summits in 2nd position while yesterday's escapee Laurent Dier (Radioshack) took 2nd place in the sprints.

 

After the passage of the first of the category 3-climbs, the gap had been reduced to less than three minutes, and Orica-GreenEdge decided to stop their work in order to prevent an early capture of the escapee. In a calm moment, the teams used the opportunity to organize their troops near the front of the peloton.

 

Malori and Voigt set off

Inside the final 30km Jens Voigt took off, and he was joined by Adriano Malori. The duo set off in pursuit of Txurruka, and just after the passage of the penultimate climb, they caught the day's main protagonist.

 

Behind Orica-GreenEdge, Astana and BMC set a hard tempo to set up Impey, Gavazzi and Philippe Gilbert for a final sprint. They kept the gap below the 1 minute mark, and the battle for position heated up.

 

On the last climb, Malori dropped his companions who were both caught. On the descent, Romain Bardet (Ag2r), Jose Herrada (Movistar), Sergio Henao (Sky) and Gilbert managed to close the gap to Malori, but just moments later it was all back together.

 

In the final flat run-in, Astana tried to set up a train for Gavazzi with Enrico Gasparotto, Janez Brajkovic and Jakob Fuglsang all in front of their fast finisher. They were, however, overtaken by Orica-GreenEdge who hit the front with a kilometer to go. Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews delivered Impey in a perfect position, and the South African took a convincing second consecutive victory in Vitoria.

 

Result:

1. Daryl Impey

2. Francesco Gavazzi

3. Angel Vicioso

4. Daniele Ratto

5. Dennis Vanendert

6. Michel Kreder

7. Daniele Pietropolli

8. Egoitz Garcia

9. Maciej Paterski

10. Peter Velits

 

General classification:

1. Francesco Gavazzi

2. Angel Vicioso

3. Peter Velits

4. Jakob Fuglsang

5. Nairo Quintana

6. Sergio Henao

7. SImon Gerrans

8. Richie Porte

9. Rui Costa

10. Tejay Van Garderen