Galdós sprints to 3rd in Catalunya

Euskaltel finally put on a good show today. Aitor Galdós showed great form to sprint to 3rd on the second stage of Catalunya, only beaten by Cavendish and Saxo Bank's JJ Haedo. Jonathan also showed what a talent he is by spending most of the day up front with another talented young guy by the name of Peter Stetina. The two escaped early on and were only reeled back in with 12 clicks to go. In the process, Jonathan secured the Sprint Jersey, which he'll get to wear tomorrow. Great stuff! Except for Jonathan, who came in a minute and 2 seconds back, everyone came in safe and sound with the main pack. Good day.

After the race, Aitor had this to say: "This is my first Pro Tour race of the year, and this third place is good. I felt good, and we have to try to take advantage of the opportunities that come along. There was a small climb with 3 km to go, and this allowed me to begin the sprint in a good position. It was a hard finish with such good riders and a twisty run-in. I started to win, not to come third. I had a small mechanical problem, the chain jumped from the 11-tooth chainring to the one with 12, resulting in me having to sit down, change the gear, and then restart. I lost the second place there. I don't know if I would have been able to beat Cavendish, but even so this result boosts my morale. The stage that ends on the Montjuíc is the one I like the most, I think it suits my characteristics, but we'll take it day by day. I'm still not at my peak, but come Saturday I'll be closer. I felt well already in the prologue yesterday, though I lost a place in the top 10 due to a badly timed curve. The team is fighting, today Castroviejo made it into the break of the day. We have to continue this way, some days it'll work and some days it won't, but we'll try".

Jonathan had this to say: "Alvaro requested before the race that we'd be aggressive, and I managed to get away with Peter Stetina. We gave it our all all day, and in the end that took it's toll. With 65 to go we held an eigth-minute advantage, and, yes, at that stage I thought we could make it. But the teams got organized behind us and that made it impossible. In addition, towards the end we got a head-wind, and after more than 160 kilometres up front... The best thing though is that I'm feeling well after coming down with gastroenteritis the past week. And that we secured the lead in the Special Sprints competition. It's always good to be on the podium, and let's see if we can keep the jersey. Tomorrow will be a hard day with an Hors Category climb halfway through. Let's see how we recover from today's efforts."