MADRID, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Magnus Cort of Team Uno-X-Mobility won an entertaining second stage of the Tour of Catalonia on Tuesday.
Cort was the fastest rider in an uphill sprint to decide the 167.4-kilometer stage between Figueras and Banyoles in northeast Spain in one of the most important early-season stage races on the cycling calendar, which this year features riders such as Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike and Remco Evenepoel of Bora-Hansgrohe.
The Norwegian timed his sprint perfectly, hitting the front of the peloton with around 250 meters remaining on the slight uphill finish.
The main focus of the stage was a breakaway by Lotto-Intermarche duo Liam Slock and Baptiste Veistroffer, who held a lead of just over a minute over the main peloton with around 25 kilometers left.
The two teammates worked together to try to hold off the chasing pack, with Veistroffer trying to leave Slock with a chance of taking the stage, but he was finally reeled in just after crossing the one-kilometer mark, setting up an inevitable sprint.
Dorian Godon of INEOS Grenadiers retained the overall leader's jersey with the same overall time as Cort Nielsen.
Wednesday's third stage between Mont-Roig del Camp and Vila-seca begins with a first-category climb and a second-category climb before the final 40 kilometers descend from 545 meters above sea level to just 45 meters, meaning the stage could either end in a sprint or with a breakaway victory. ■
