Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) won the second stage after winning the first stage. In Girona, the Slovenian won this time clearly ahead of the Italians Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) and Daniele Ratto (Cannondale). Marcus Burghardt (BMC) took a strong fifth place.
Thanks to the time bonuses awarded at the finish of the Tour of Catalonia, Mezgec was able to extend his lead in the overall standings. Here he is now fourteen seconds ahead of Ferrari and the Australian Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge).
The 170-kilometer second part of the day was characterized by rain and cold. As a result, the field initially took it easy and the breakaway group around Michel Koch (Cannondale) and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) gave way. The Frenchman broke away from his companions as the lead of the leaders threatened to drop below one minute on the way to the final climb of the day. He saved almost 50 seconds on the climb, but at this point the Orica-GreenEdge and Giant-Shimano teams organized the tracking work in the field.
Five kilometers before the finish, this bore fruit. After Voeckler was caught, Burghardt briefly tried his luck on the descent to the finish, but gave up his advance and joined the sprint train, which brought him fifth place in the end.
Result
1. Luka Mezgec (Giant Shimano) 3:57:49
2. Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) 0:00:00
3. Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) 0:00:00
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:00
5. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) 0:00:00
Total
1. Luka Mezgec (Giant Shimano) 8:06:42
2. Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida) 0:00:14
3. Leigh Howard (Orica GreenEdge) 0:00:14
4. Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 0:00:16
5. Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) 0:00:16