Gianni Meersman (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) has entered this year's Volta a Catalunya in terrific form. Today he took his second consecutive stage victory by beating Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) and Brett Lancaster (Orica-GreenEdge) in a hard uphill sprint in Banyoles.

Gianni Meersman had been disappointed to leave Paris-Nice without repeating last year's stage win and entered this year's Volta a Catalunya with a firm focus on revenge. With another stage victory in today's second stage, it is mission accomplished for the talented Belgian.

Blanco had done most of the early pace-making to make sure that today's three man break was caught, and all was set for a mass sprint as the peloton entered the final part of the race. Meersman's teammate Andrew Fenn did an impressive job by leading the peloton for most of the final km on the difficult uphill finishing straight. Coming from behind, Meersman opened his sprint early to avoid getting boxed in, and he powered to the front with a few hundred metres to go. Daniele Ratto tried to pass the strong Belgian in the end, but missed a few centimetres and had to settle for second.

With his victory, Meersman extends his lead in the overall classification due to another 10 bonus seconds. He now leads Valerio Agnoli (Astana) by 14 seconds and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by 16, but will struggle to defend his jersey in tomorrow's first of two consecutive mountaintop finishes.

3 riders head up the road

The stage was a 161 km trek from Girona to Banyoles. With only one 3rd category climb, it was always poised to be a day for the sprinters. The stage finished with 4 laps of a 9,2 km circuit in Banyoles. Crosswinds had been feared by some, but as it turned out to be another perfect day for bike racing the only challenge was the small climb inside the final km.

From the gun, the day's main escape headed up the road. Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) and Christophe Laborie(Sojasun) were joined by Cristian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge) who had his second consecutive day in the day's breakaway. He made sure to cross the line first in the stage's intermediate sprints and was rewarded for his efforts by an extended lead in the sprints classification.

The sprinters had missed one of their few opportunities yesterday, and they were in no mood for another disappointment. Hence, the break was kept under tight control and only managed to build an advantage of around 3 minutes. Omega Pharma-Quick Step made sure to do the bulk of the early pace-making in a dual attempt to defend Meersman's leaders jersey and to set the Belgian up for another sprint win.

Blanco amass at the front

As the peloton approached the line to start the first of 4 laps on the finishing circuit, Blanco put Jack Bobridge on the front in an attempt to set up their sprinter Robert Wagner. As usual, Sky was very visible near the head of the peloton, and the British team made sure that team leader Bradley Wiggins was always in a safe position.

Blanco also asked Stef Clement to take on the pace-making, and with the battle for positions heating up the advantage of the breakaway crumbled. With 20 km to go, it was all back together, and a hectic run-in to the finish ensued.

The teams gathered their trains at the front while Blanco always kept the front positions. Bobridge and Clement used up their power and dropped off, and the Dutch team had little reserves left. They even had to sent lead-out man Jetse Bol and GC leader Robert Gesink to the front, but were finally assisted by Ag2r who looked to set up Samuel Dumoulin.

Burghardt attacks

Inside the final three kilometres Marcus Burghardt (BMC) attacked. He was joined by Polish champion Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), a Cannondale and a Vacansoleil rider. With Golas protecting Meersman's lead and so unwilling to work, the break was caught, and Wagner's final lead-out man Moreno Hofland hit the front inside the final two kilometres.

He did an amazing turn on the front, but as he finished his job, team sprinter Wagner hit the front way too early. Fenn dug deep to keep the pace up for Meersman who finally opened a long sprint to power clear and secure his second victory in his new team colours.

You can follow Meersman's struggle in the high mountains and the first big favourite battle tomorrow on CyclingQuotes.com/live. Starting at 15.15, we bring you all the action from the first of two decisive stages.

Results stage 2
1 Gianni Meersman - Omega Pharma-Quick Step 03.48.10
2 Daniele Ratto - Cannondale Pro Cycling
3 Brett Lancaster - Orica-GreenEdge
4 Samuel Dumoulin - Ag2R La Mondiale
5 Robert Wagner - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
6 Julien Simon - Sojasun
7 Maurits Lammertink - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
8 Laurent Pichon - FDJ
9 Danilo Wyss - BMC Racing Team
10 Manuele Mori - Lampre-Merida
11 Sam Bewley - Orica-GreenEdge
12 Stéphane Poulhies - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
13 Tiziano Dall'Antonia - Cannondale Pro Cycling
14 Nicolas Roche - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
15 Andrew Fenn - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
16 Cristiano Salerno - Cannondale Pro Cycling
17 Jon Aberasturi Izaga - Euskaltel-Euskadi
18 Robert Gesink - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
19 Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Lotto Belisol
20 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana Pro Team
21 Pim Ligthart - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
22 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte - Movistar Team
23 Rudy Molard - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
24 Lucas Sebastian Haedo - Cannondale Pro Cycling
25 Mikael Cherel - Ag2R La Mondiale
26 Luis Angel Mate Mardones - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
27 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso - Caja Rural
28 Alberto Losada Alguacil - Katusha
29 Georg Preidler - Team Argos-Shimano
30 Steven Kruijswijk - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
31 Rob Ruijgh - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
32 Dario Cataldo - Sky Procycling
33 David Lopez Garcia - Sky Procycling
34 Jesus Herrada Lopez - Movistar Team
35 Giampaolo Caruso - Katusha
36 George Bennett - RadioShack Leopard
37 Bradley Wiggins - Sky Procycling
38 Nicki Sörensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
39 Thomas De Gendt - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
40 Ivan Santaromita - BMC Racing Team
41 Laurens Ten Dam - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
42 Patrick Gretsch - Team Argos-Shimano
43 Yury Trofimov - Katusha
44 Guillaume Bonnafond - Ag2R La Mondiale
45 Igor Anton Hernandez - Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau - Euskaltel-Euskadi
47 Eros Capecchi - Movistar Team
48 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez - Ag2R La Mondiale
49 Thomas Peterson - Team Argos-Shimano
50 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver - Katusha
51 Cameron Wurf - Cannondale Pro Cycling
52 Simon Spilak - Katusha
53 Daniel Martin - Garmin-Sharp
54 Mikel Nieve Ituralde - Euskaltel-Euskadi
55 Rinaldo Nocentini - Ag2R La Mondiale
56 Ivan Velasco Murillo - Caja Rural
57 Nicolas Edet - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
58 Travis Meyer - Orica-GreenEdge
59 Peter Stetina - Garmin-Sharp
60 Jérémie Galland - Sojasun
61 Steve Morabito - BMC Racing Team
62 Fabrice Jeandesboz - Sojasun
63 Tim Wellens - Lotto Belisol
64 Willem Wauters - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
65 Michele Scarponi - Lampre-Merida
66 Robert Kiserlovski - RadioShack Leopard
67 Domenico Pozzovivo - Ag2R La Mondiale
68 Daniel Navarro Garcia - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
69 Tristan Valentin - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
70 Michal Golas - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
71 Przemyslaw Niemiec - Lampre-Merida
72 Ryder Hesjedal - Garmin-Sharp
73 Tiago Machado - RadioShack Leopard
74 Kristijan Durasek - Lampre-Merida
75 Simon Gerrans - Orica-GreenEdge
76 Daniel Moreno Fernandez - Katusha
77 David Arroyo Duran - Caja Rural
78 Vladimir Karpets - Movistar Team
79 Wesley Sulzberger - Orica-GreenEdge
80 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas - Movistar Team
81 Dries Devenyns - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
82 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre - RadioShack Leopard
83 Ricardo Mestre - Euskaltel-Euskadi
84 Rigoberto Uran Uran - Sky Procycling
85 Gianluca Brambilla - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
86 Christophe Le Mevel - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
87 Federico Canuti - Cannondale Pro Cycling
88 Thomas Rohregger - RadioShack Leopard
89 Marcos Garcia - Caja Rural
90 Yoann Bagot - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
91 Denis Menchov - Katusha
92 Amets Txurruka - Caja Rural
93 Danail Andonov Petrov - Caja Rural
94 Fabio Aru - Astana Pro Team
95 Marcus Burghardt - BMC Racing Team
96 Evgeny Petrov - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
97 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde - Euskaltel-Euskadi
98 Jurgen Van De Walle - Lotto Belisol
99 Cédric Pineau - FDJ
100 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira - RadioShack Leopard
101 Thomas Danielson - Garmin-Sharp
102 Martin Kohler - BMC Racing Team
103 Simone Stortoni - Lampre-Merida
104 Egor Silin - Astana Pro Team
105 Blel Kadri - Ag2R La Mondiale
106 Maxime Mederel - Sojasun
107 Chris Anker Sörensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
108 Mikel Landa Meana - Euskaltel-Euskadi
109 Yannick Eijssen - BMC Racing Team
110 Christophe Laborie - Sojasun
111 Michel Kreder - Garmin-Sharp
112 Imanol Erviti Ollo - Movistar Team
113 Serge Pauwels - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
114 Jean-Marc Marino - Sojasun
115 Benoît Vaugrenard - FDJ
116 Andrea Guardini - Astana Pro Team
117 Tarik Chaoufi - Euskaltel-Euskadi
118 Rafal Majka - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
119 José Rujano Guillen - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
120 Julien Berard - Ag2R La Mondiale
121 Maciej Paterski - Cannondale Pro Cycling
122 Martijn Keizer - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
123 Christian Vande Velde - Garmin-Sharp
124 David Zabriskie - Garmin-Sharp
125 Brian Bulgac - Lotto Belisol
126 Kenny Elissonde - FDJ
127 Francois Parisien - Team Argos-Shimano
128 Lawrence Warbasse - BMC Racing Team
129 Francis De Greef - Lotto Belisol
130 Thibaut Pinot - FDJ
131 Laurent Mangel - FDJ
132 Peter Kennaugh - Sky Procycling
133 Antonio Piedra Perez - Caja Rural
134 Karol Domagalski - Caja Rural
135 Ruben Plaza Molina - Movistar Team
136 Brian Vandborg - Cannondale Pro Cycling
137 Thomas Damuseau - Team Argos-Shimano
138 Julien Vermote - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
139 Karsten Kroon - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
140 Albert Timmer - Team Argos-Shimano
141 Jean-Lou Paiani - Sojasun
142 Matthew Busche - RadioShack Leopard
143 Stephen Cummings - BMC Racing Team
144 Sylvester Szmyd - Movistar Team
145 Koldo Fernandez - Garmin-Sharp 0.27
146 Stef Clement - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 0.31
147 Christian Meier - Orica-GreenEdge
148 Joshua Edmondson - Sky Procycling
149 Moreno Hofland - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
150 Mads Christensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0.45
151 William Clarke - Team Argos-Shimano 0.52
152 Francesco Gavazzi - Astana Pro Team 0.58
153 Christian Knees - Sky Procycling 1.01
154 Alexsandr Dyachenko - Astana Pro Team 1.03
155 Matthew Lloyd - Lampre-Merida
156 Rafael Valls Ferri - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1.06
157 Oliver Zaugg - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1.08
158 Brice Feillu - Sojasun
159 Danny Pate - Sky Procycling
160 Jetse Bol - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
161 Joost Van Leijen - Lotto Belisol 1.28
162 Jonas Ahlstrand - Team Argos-Shimano
163 Arnold Jeannesson - FDJ
164 Olivier Kaisen - Lotto Belisol 2.33
165 Valerio Agnoli - Astana Pro Team
166 Dmitry Kozontchuk - Katusha
167 Carlos Verona Quintanilla - Omega Pharma-Quick Step 3.11
168 Andrey Kashechkin - Astana Pro Team
169 Sandy Casar - FDJ 3.36
170 Jack Bobridge - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 3.56
171 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze - Lampre-Merida 5.24
172 Allan Davis - Orica-GreenEdge 10.34

General classification 
1 Gianni Meersman - Omega Pharma-Quick Step 07.43.46
2 Valerio Agnoli - Astana Pro Team 0.14
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte - Movistar Team 0.16
4 Danilo Wyss - BMC Racing Team 0.20
5 Robert Gesink - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
6 Dario Cataldo - Sky Procycling
7 David Lopez Garcia - Sky Procycling
8 Bradley Wiggins - Sky Procycling
9 Jesus Herrada Lopez - Movistar Team
10 Daniel Martin - Garmin-Sharp
11 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver - Katusha
12 Michele Scarponi - Lampre-Merida
13 Przemyslaw Niemiec - Lampre-Merida
14 Daniele Ratto - Cannondale Pro Cycling 0.42
15 Brett Lancaster - Orica-GreenEdge 0.44
16 Christophe Laborie - Sojasun
17 Thomas De Gendt - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0.47
18 Cédric Pineau - FDJ
19 Julien Simon - Sojasun 0.48
20 Manuele Mori - Lampre-Merida
21 Stéphane Poulhies - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
22 Andrew Fenn - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
23 Tiziano Dall'Antonia - Cannondale Pro Cycling
24 Pim Ligthart - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
25 Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Lotto Belisol
26 Robert Wagner - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
27 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso - Caja Rural
28 Samuel Dumoulin - Ag2R La Mondiale
29 Luis Angel Mate Mardones - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
30 Georg Preidler - Team Argos-Shimano
31 Sam Bewley - Orica-GreenEdge
32 Jakob Fuglsang - Astana Pro Team
33 Nicki Sörensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
34 Laurent Pichon - FDJ
35 Rob Ruijgh - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
36 George Bennett - RadioShack Leopard
37 Mikael Cherel - Ag2R La Mondiale
38 Lucas Sebastian Haedo - Cannondale Pro Cycling
39 Steven Kruijswijk - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
40 Rinaldo Nocentini - Ag2R La Mondiale
41 Ivan Velasco Murillo - Caja Rural
42 Nicolas Roche - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
43 Daniel Navarro Garcia - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
44 Alberto Losada Alguacil - Katusha
45 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau - Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Laurens Ten Dam - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
47 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez - Ag2R La Mondiale
48 Ivan Santaromita - BMC Racing Team
49 Jérémie Galland - Sojasun
50 Rudy Molard - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
51 Thomas Peterson - Team Argos-Shimano
52 Cameron Wurf - Cannondale Pro Cycling
53 Tiago Machado - RadioShack Leopard
54 Maurits Lammertink - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
55 Igor Anton Hernandez - Euskaltel-Euskadi
56 Michal Golas - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
57 Eros Capecchi - Movistar Team
58 Giampaolo Caruso - Katusha
59 Simon Gerrans - Orica-GreenEdge
60 Travis Meyer - Orica-GreenEdge
61 Fabrice Jeandesboz - Sojasun
62 Thomas Danielson - Garmin-Sharp
63 Christophe Le Mevel - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
64 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre - RadioShack Leopard
65 Steve Morabito - BMC Racing Team
66 Egor Silin - Astana Pro Team
67 Michel Kreder - Garmin-Sharp
68 Francois Parisien - Team Argos-Shimano
69 Tristan Valentin - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
70 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde - Euskaltel-Euskadi
71 Peter Stetina - Garmin-Sharp
72 Dries Devenyns - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
73 Martin Kohler - BMC Racing Team
74 Serge Pauwels - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
75 Mikel Nieve Ituralde - Euskaltel-Euskadi
76 Guillaume Bonnafond - Ag2R La Mondiale
77 Robert Kiserlovski - RadioShack Leopard
78 Amets Txurruka - Caja Rural
79 Gianluca Brambilla - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
80 Yoann Bagot - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
81 Simon Spilak - Katusha
82 Matthew Busche - RadioShack Leopard
83 Yury Trofimov - Katusha
84 Ricardo Mestre - Euskaltel-Euskadi
85 Ryder Hesjedal - Garmin-Sharp
86 Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira - RadioShack Leopard
87 Rigoberto Uran Uran - Sky Procycling
88 Willem Wauters - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
89 Albert Timmer - Team Argos-Shimano
90 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas - Movistar Team
91 Evgeny Petrov - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
92 Domenico Pozzovivo - Ag2R La Mondiale
93 Thomas Rohregger - RadioShack Leopard
94 Wesley Sulzberger - Orica-GreenEdge
95 Andrea Guardini - Astana Pro Team
96 Marcos Garcia - Caja Rural
97 Mikel Landa Meana - Euskaltel-Euskadi
98 Nicolas Edet - Cofidis, Solutions Credits
99 Tim Wellens - Lotto Belisol
100 Vladimir Karpets - Movistar Team
101 Daniel Moreno Fernandez - Katusha
102 Marcus Burghardt - BMC Racing Team
103 Kristijan Durasek - Lampre-Merida
104 Simone Stortoni - Lampre-Merida
105 Danail Andonov Petrov - Caja Rural
106 David Arroyo Duran - Caja Rural
107 Denis Menchov - Katusha
108 Jean-Lou Paiani - Sojasun
109 Maxime Mederel - Sojasun
110 Martijn Keizer - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
111 Andrey Kashechkin - Astana Pro Team
112 Laurent Mangel - FDJ
113 Yannick Eijssen - BMC Racing Team
114 Francis De Greef - Lotto Belisol
115 Chris Anker Sörensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
116 Federico Canuti - Cannondale Pro Cycling
117 Julien Berard - Ag2R La Mondiale
118 Fabio Aru - Astana Pro Team
119 Blel Kadri - Ag2R La Mondiale
120 David Zabriskie - Garmin-Sharp
121 Antonio Piedra Perez - Caja Rural
122 Arnold Jeannesson - FDJ
123 Jurgen Van De Walle - Lotto Belisol
124 Benoît Vaugrenard - FDJ
125 Peter Kennaugh - Sky Procycling
126 Maciej Paterski - Cannondale Pro Cycling
127 Thibaut Pinot - FDJ
128 Imanol Erviti Ollo - Movistar Team
129 Karol Domagalski - Caja Rural
130 Kenny Elissonde - FDJ
131 Jean-Marc Marino - Sojasun
132 Dmitry Kozontchuk - Katusha
133 José Rujano Guillen - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
134 Christian Vande Velde - Garmin-Sharp
135 Lawrence Warbasse - BMC Racing Team
136 Julien Vermote - Omega Pharma-Quick Step
137 Brian Bulgac - Lotto Belisol
138 Ruben Plaza Molina - Movistar Team
139 Brian Vandborg - Cannondale Pro Cycling
140 Thomas Damuseau - Team Argos-Shimano
141 Stephen Cummings - BMC Racing Team
142 Sylvester Szmyd - Movistar Team
143 Koldo Fernandez - Garmin-Sharp 1.15
144 Moreno Hofland - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 1.19
145 Stef Clement - Blanco Pro Cycling Team
146 Joshua Edmondson - Sky Procycling
147 Mads Christensen - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 1.33
148 Francesco Gavazzi - Astana Pro Team 1.46
149 Christian Knees - Sky Procycling 1.49
150 Jetse Bol - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 1.56
151 Danny Pate - Sky Procycling
152 William Clarke - Team Argos-Shimano 2.29
153 Patrick Gretsch - Team Argos-Shimano 2.52
154 Jonas Ahlstrand - Team Argos-Shimano 2.55
155 Alexsandr Dyachenko - Astana Pro Team 3.58
156 Brice Feillu - Sojasun 4.00
157 Olivier Kaisen - Lotto Belisol 4.06
158 Sandy Casar - FDJ 4.24
159 Cristiano Salerno - Cannondale Pro Cycling 6.09
160 Jon Aberasturi Izaga - Euskaltel-Euskadi 6.13
161 Tarik Chaoufi - Euskaltel-Euskadi
162 Rafal Majka - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
163 Karsten Kroon - Team Saxo-Tinkoff
164 Christian Meier - Orica-GreenEdge 6.32
165 Matthew Lloyd - Lampre-Merida 7.16
166 Rafael Valls Ferri - Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 7.19
167 Oliver Zaugg - Team Saxo-Tinkoff 7.21
168 Joost Van Leijen - Lotto Belisol 8.31
169 Carlos Verona Quintanilla - Omega Pharma-Quick Step 9.24
170 Jack Bobridge - Blanco Pro Cycling Team 12.59
171 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze - Lampre-Merida 21.58
172 Allan Davis - Orica-GreenEdge 27.08