Verdugo saves the day in Burgos

As the team leaders again failed to make an impact in the Vuelta a Burgos in today's second stage, Gorka Verdugo repeated his performance from yesterday's opener to climb into the top ten overall.

Euskaltel were clearly keen to make amends for a below-par performance on day one by sending riders on the attack from the off. Mikel Astarloza gave it a go early on but was reeled back in, and Romain Sicard was the next one to make a sortie off the front. The Frenchman's effort stuck, and he got company in the shape of Orbea rider Aritz Etxebarria, Burgos duo Carlos Verona and David Belda, as well as Ramírez Abeja of Andalucía. They were never going to make it though as Katusha, Sky and co. were keen to set it up for a grandstand finale on the top of a cat.3-climb in Burgos. Sicard nonetheless looked decent though, so he seems to be on track for the Vuelta.

Yesterday's victor Moreno repeated his trick by winning comfortably ahead of Sky's Henao, while Verdugo came in 13th just nine seconds off. Verdugo doesn't seem to have lost any of the form he brought to the Tour, and will likely be a key lieutenant of Antón at the Vuelta if he keeps it up for another few weeks. Antón's form continues to be the subject of conjecture though, as he could only manage 25th, 17 seconds in arrears. On a positive note is the fact that the kind of finishes the peloton encountered today is just as much about positioning as it is about form, meaning we're more likely to get a true indication of his shape on Sunday's stage to the mighty Lagunas de Neila.

Stage two results (Orbea riders in cursive):

• (1, Daniel Moreno (Katusha), 3:11:14)
• 13, Gorka Verdugo, 0:09
• 25, Igor Antón, 0:17
• 27, Iván Velasco, s.t.
• 29, Carlos Barbero, s.t
• 51, Mikel Astarloza, s.t.
• 52, Mikel Landa, s.t.
• 66, Juan José Oroz, s.t.
• 71, Haritz Orbe, 0:36
• 73, Ricardo García, 0:38
• 95, Mikel Bizkarra, 1:05
• 99, Aritz Bagües, s.t.
• 108, Xabier Zabalo, 1:15
• 114, Jon Aberasturi, 1:38
• 125, Omar Fraile, 2:13
• 127, Romain Sicard, 2:16
• 142, Aritz Etxebarria, 4:20

Full results can be found here. 

Photo: www.fundacioneuskadi.com