Ben Swift sprinted to second place on the opening stage as the Volta a Catalunya kicked off in Calella.
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Team News – Swift 2nd in Catalunya
Team Sky Press Release
Ben Swift sprinted to second place on the opening stage as the Volta a Catalunya kicked off in Calella.
The Yorkshire rider backed up his runner-up finish on Saturday’s Milan-San Remo with another impressive sprint, but was beaten by Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) on the gradual uphill sprint.
Swift was set up by a strong performance by Team Sky, with Vasil Kiryienka and Nicolas Roche leading the team to the front over the final climb of the Alt de Collsacreu. Roche took advantage of a moment of indecision in the bunch to attack with 5km to go on a brief uphill ramp, holding off the peloton for three kilometres along the coast road before being reeled back in.
The sprint then took hold, with Kiryienka pulling off and Geraint Thomas leading out Swift for second. The bunch sprint saw a star-studded field of GC men finish on the same time, with Chris Froome, Wout Poels and the rest of Team Sky crossing the line safely ahead of more selective stages to come.
Bonus seconds in the sprint mean Bouhanni moves into an early race lead, with Swift four seconds behind in second.
Swift assesses opening day telling TeamSky.com: “It was a great team performance once again. Obviously the sprinting is secondary here and we’re here to try and win the GC. I think we rode really well as a team. We were at the front where we said we wanted to be and I think we had everything under control. I gave it a good go in the sprint but just got beaten by a faster guy.”
“Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be back into the swing of things. We had a hard San Remo and not an ideal day yesterday with all the flight delays. So hopefully now with a day out of the way I’ll feel alright tomorrow.”
RESULT
1. Nacer Bouhanni, Cofidis
2. Ben Swift, Sky
3. Daryl Impey, Orica GreenEdge
14. Philippe Gilbert, BMC
29. Geraint Thomas, Sky
33. Chris Froome, Sky
46. Hugh Carthy, Caja Rural
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