Vuelta a Castilla y León (st. 2)

Spanish sprinter finishes 8th in Palencia, conserves leader's jersey by just 1"; Rosón remains 13" behind Blue team-mate before Sunday's mountain showdown.

Estonia’s Mikhel Räim (ICA) took Saturday’s win into a full bunch’s sprint at the end of stage two in the Vuelta a Castilla y León, 183km from Valladolid to Palencia with rolling terrain, much less wind than on Friday’s opener and barely three categorized climbs sparsed through the route.

The Movistar Team worked well organized to defend the chances by Carlos Barbero, race leader following his brilliant victory on Friday. The strong labour by Castrillo, Sütterlin -always at the lead of the bunch-, Bico, Fernández and Carretero made impossible for the early nine-man break to establish a consistent gap. The Blues then sought, together with Euskadi-Murias, to lead out a sprint where the Spaniard could only take 8th place this time.

Barbero stays in the GC lead, yet only 1″ ahead of second-placed Jon Aberasturi (EUS), while Jaime Rosón stayed inside the peloton and remains 13″ behind his team-mate before Sunday’s mountain showdown: 174km between Segovia and Ávila with four long climbs, which include a double ascent of the Alto de Navalmoral, the latter (Cat-2) just 20km from the finishing slope next to the famous Walls.

Picture 2: Ciclismo Venteño