VPV 2: Status quo

There were no major changes to the overall after today's second stage of País Vasco. The 163km stage from Zumarraga to Lekunberri wasn't as selective as yesterday's opening stage, meaning the main front group consisted of no less than 22 riders coming into Lekunberri. Kiryienka escaped to take a deserved and, contrary to popular opinion it seems, non-surprising win (he's been in sublime form for some time now), while Samu and Verdugo calmly came home with the leading group two seconds down. Due to Klöden taking second today, Samu dropped to third overall and Klöden rose to first thanks to better stage placings. There's no need to worry though as there's still nothing separating the leading trio. Horner is fourth at one single second. The other Euskaltel riders once again put in decent shifts to help Samu out throughout the day. Velasco came home 46th at 1:08, Txurruka (who's looking thinner than ever by the way) was 59th at 2:18, Martínez was 87th at 4:30, Oroz 106th at 7:16, while Isasi and Urtasun both ended up at 18:46. After two days of solid riding, Verdugo is ranked 17th overall at just 36 seconds.