CAMBRILS, Spain, 18 May 2005 — Italian Enrico Gasparotto put more experienced riders in the shade by clinching stage two of the Tour of Catalonia yesterday.
The Liquigas rider, in his fifth month as a professional, was the fastest in a 170-rider dash for the line at the end of the 186.8-km stage starting and finishing in the coastal resort of Cambrils.
Second in the bunch sprint was Italian rider Claudio Corioni with Norwegian Thor Hushovd third. The overall leader remained Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero, who finished 15th.
“My teammate Magnus Backstedt was instrumental in my victory today,” Gasparotto, who clocked four hours 48 minutes and 39 seconds for the stage, told Reuters.
“He guided towards the front in the final kilometer and accelerated really hard at the same time. It was like following a really fast race-horse.” After taking seven wins as an amateur last year, Gasparotto was understandably proud of clinching his first in the professional ranks in a ProTour race of the calibre of the Tour of Catalonia.
“This is a real step in the right direction,” said the 23-year-old.
The unsung hero of the day was Spaniard, Jose Antonio Lopez, who attacked after two kilometers of racing and stayed out front for the next 184. Joined by two other riders, Lopez stubbornly continued with his solo effort after his breakaway companions threw in the towel in the suburbs of Cambril.
The Kaiku rider was only sucked in by the peloton within sight of the finish line. Tour contender Jan Ullrich, whose T-Mobile squad were instrumental in pegging back the three men in the final 50 kilometers, finished safely in the pack.
Today’s third stage is a 157.8-km run starting in Salou and finishing in La Granada.
