CSC satisfied as favourites finish together

Despite not having a man in the first group of seven riders on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a España, Team CSC was content with the outcome, as all the GC favourites finished in a 62-strong group. In that group, Christian Vandevelde (28th), Carlos Sastre (59th) and Manuel Calvente (61st) were present for CSC, which sports director Kim Andersen was 'pretty satisfied' with.

"We tried to keep Sastre up front ahead of the climb, where it all exploded," said Andersen on team-csc.com. "Of course, it would've been more fun if we'd had a rider in the break, but I'm pretty satisfied with the fact that we had three guys in the second group with all the big favourites."

While Jakob Piil was with these favourites up until the final climb of the Alto de San Jeronimo, he eventually had to let go. However, Andersen said his performance bodes well for future stages. "It was too bad because he sat with the favourites for a really long time. But once again it shows that Jakob is finding the form like Vandevelde, who has now been given the freedom to ride his own race, while the others are going to back up Sastre 100 percent," he said.

Sastre and Vandevelde are 10th and 17th respectively in the overall standings going into Stage 3.