Bouhanni makes it two in a row in Catalunya
Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) confirmed his status as the fastest rider in the Volta a Catalunya by claiming another dominant sprint win of stage 2 of the Spanish race.
After another great lead-out by Geoffrey Soupe, he easily held off Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep) in the final dash to the line, with Philippe Gilbert (BMC) crossing the line as a distant third. With the win, Bouhanni extended his overall lead.
“It’s been a great start to this race, and we’ve won two stages,” said Bouhanni. “We will see what happens [Wednesday]. I wasn’t feeling great this morning, I had a bad stomach, and had to see the doctor, so let’s see if I can make it.”
With the win, Bouhanni extended his lead over Ben Swift (Sky) and De Gendt to 14 seconds. However, he won’t be a contender in tomorrow’s stage which will see the riders head into the Pyrenees for the first of two big mountain stages. After a flat start, the riders face two category 1 climbs before they get to the final circuit which they will cover twice. It includes the category 1 climb of La Molina which averages 4.5% over 11.1km and as the finish line comes at the top, the first big battle between the climbers is expected.
Volta a Catalunya 2016 – stage 2 results (Mataró – Olot):
| 1 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) |
4:39:10 |
| 2 | Gianni Meersman (Etixx – QuickStep) |
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| 3 | Philippe Gilbert (BMC) |
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| 4 | Aleksei Tsatevich (Katusha) |
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| 5 | Carlos Barbera (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) |
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| 6 | Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segafredo) |
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| 7 | Enrico Gasparotto (Wanty – Groupe Gobert) |
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| 8 | Jonas Vangenechten (IAM) |
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| 9 | Pawel Franczak (Verva ActiveJet) |
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| 10 | Kévin Reza (FDJ) |
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