Bouhanni wins Vuelta 2nd stage, Valverde in red

Bouhanni wins Vuelta 2nd stage, Valverde in red

MADRID - France's Nacer Bouhanni sprinted to victory in the 174.4km second stage of the Tour of Spain from Algeciras to San Fernando on Sunday.

French cyclist Nacer Bouhanni (R) of FDJ.fr celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 2nd stage of the 69th edition of "La Vuelta" Tour of Spain on August 24, 2013

Bouhanni, riding for FDJ, finished in a time of 4hr 01min 32sec, just ahead of German John Degenkolb and Italy's Roberto Ferrari.

Movistar's Alejandro Valverde moved into the overall lead with team-mate and race favourite Nairo Quintana of Colombia second.

Sky's Chris Froome finished with the same time as the leaders to remain 27 seconds off the lead.

"I am very happy for me and for the team. My goal was to get at least one stage victory, which I have now achieved," said Bouhanni.

"I will go for the stage victory whenever I can and hopefully as the tour develops I can target the points jersey as well."

In one of the few very flat stages of the three week race, a sprint finish was always expected and so it proved as a huge peloton of 127 riders reached the finish line in the same time.

And it was Valverde who took the red leader's jersey as he crossed the line ahead of his teammates after Movistar romped to victory in the opening stage team time trial.

"I went to the front to avoid any falls or any problems and thanks to that I am the leader," said Valverde, who won the Tour of Spain back in 2009.

"I am very happy to be leading, but it would be the same if it was one of my teammates. The seconds of an advantage we got yesterday were very important and although today isn't the most important day to be leading, it is always nice to wear the red jersey."

Monday's third stage from Cadiz to Arcos de la Frontera sees the first serious climbing of the tour with four category three climbs before a short uphill finish.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT