After the excitement of stage one, stage two of the Tour of Catalunya turned out to be a more predictable affair, ending in a bunch sprint. Although three riders got into a break, including Christian Meier, Olivier Kaisen and Christophe Laborie, there was never any doubt that the peloton were going to reel them back in. Driving the pace at the front was Omega Pharma-Quickstep, obviously trying to keep Gianni Meersman, the current leader of the GC, out of trouble and in the leader's jersey.
Other teams contributed to the pace and so the breakaway riders were brought back with 20 km to go. Although a number of riders, including Marcus Burghardt and Michal Golas, tried to get away with just over 3 km to go, AG2R La Mondiale and Blanco pushed on, bringing the escapees back with under 2 km to go. As the sprint wound up, there was a crash, which claimed a number of riders, but in the end Gianni Meersman was well-placed to win his second consecutive stage, which he did.
With the additional time bonus given for crossing the line first, Meersman is now leading the GC by 14 seconds, followed by Valerio Agnoli and Alejandro Valverde. However, it is during the next couple of stages where the road heads upwards and when the GC contenders are likely to make their move. For teams with GC aspirations, this stage was just about getting their team leaders home safely.
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