Tour of the Basque Country 2015: Fabio Felline outsprints Michael Matthews
Stage 2 in the Tour of the Basque Country offers a hilly ride in 175.4 kilometres to Vitoria Gasteiz, the second city of the Spanish region. But not hilly enough to avoid a bunch sprint and young Fabio Felline outsprints leader Michael Matthews. (Slideshow route/profile)
Tour of the Basque Country 2015: Race results stage 2
1. Fabio Felline (ita)
2. Michael Matthews (aus) s.t.
3. Tony Gallopin (fra) s.t.
4. Philippe Gilbert (bel) s.t.
5. Kevin Reza (fra) s.t.
6. Michal Kwiatkowski (pol) s.t.
7. Julien Simon (fra) s.t.
8. Pello Bilbao (spa) s.t.
9. Valerio Agnoli (ita) s.t.
10. Gianni Meersman (bel) s.t.
GC after stage 2:
1. Michael Matthews (aus) s.t.
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (pol) s.t.
3. Fabio Felline (ita) s.t.
4. Tony Gallopin (fra) s.t.
5. Kevin Reza (fra) s.t.
6. Julien Simon (fra) s.t.
7. Valerio Agnoli (ita) s.t.
8. Pello Bilbao (spa) s.t.
9. Daniel Moreno (spa) s.t.
10. Petr Vakoc (cze) s.t.
Race report
A quarter of an hour into the race and Vervaeke, De Weert, Reichenbach, Txurruka and Hupond launch an attack. Seemingly without any effort, the five manage to race to a maximum gap of 10’30” with 25 km’s done. Climbing up Alto de Puerto de Orduña the gain goes down to 8 minutes. At the top Txurruka takes most KOM points.
At the Salinas de Añana climb the gap shrinks further, yet the gap is big enough to stay in the lead. Once again Txurruka grabs most KOM points, but at the Alto de San Martin de Zar Reichenbach is fastest, Txurruka on his wheel.
Climbing up the Zaldiarán Vervaeke, Reichenbach and Txurruka leave their fellow-escapees De Weert and Hupond. Txurruka takes most KOM points once again, just like he does atop Alto Vitoria, making him the new KOM leader.
At the closing climb the remains of the break are reeled in and Fabio Felline wins the sprint, just before Michael Matthews. The Australian stays in the lead.
Tour of the Basque Country 2015 stage 2
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Fabio Felline
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