The second stage of the Vuelta linked Malaga with Cordoba over the distance of 167 km.
The race was animated by the marathon break of Spain's Mario de Sárraga (Relax-Gam), who attacked after 4 kilometres. He began his attack with David de la Fuente, who had later some mechanical trouble and was caught by the peloton.
The solitary leader had made a gap of 13' on the peloton after 100 km; however, the sprinters' teams wanted a mass sprint, so the gap was closed in the second half of the distance.
The leader was caught with 13 km to go, and the following pack sprint was won by Italy's Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step-Innergetic), 2nd was the Norwegian racer Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) and 3rd another Italian, Luca Paolini (Liquigas). Robbie finished in 4th position.
Thor Hushovd takes the leaders from Carlos Sastre, Bettini follow 2" down. |