It was a stage win  for Juan José Lobato (Movistar) and a lead in the general classification for Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) on the second stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia but Eduard Prades was 5th and Pello Bilbao was 7th for Caja Rural.

Luckily this was an incident-free stage in Andalucía following a complicated first day featuring a mass crash. Part of the team met the objective of recovering as much as possible from the injuries sustained in their fall the day before, while the rest, those least affected by the crash, were able to be in the front during the final kilometres along with the riders that fought for stage victory.

The first cyclist for the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team in the general classification is Ángel Madrazo who is currently 25th.

Eduard Prades, 5th to cross the finish line, says that “it was strange. We kept up a good rhythm throughout the day without easing up for a second, but then there weren’t really any critical moments, even though the wind doesn’t allow you to let your guard down, because you never know. The 5th place and Pello’s 7th place cheer us all up a bit, it means that we are starting to make our presence known and this will give us more confidence for the next stages. Hopefully, little by little, we’ll recover those who fell. They are still suffering from aches and pains but are enthusiastic and wishing to be back to their full capacity for the next races."

Pello Bilbao, 7th to cross the finish line, said: “I was in a bit of pain at the beginning of the stage, but as we neared the finish line and as efforts increased I forgot all my aches and pains and was able to reach the final sprint. I started to sprint a bit late so the first six had already covered a fair distance and, from behind, I was not able to reach them. The team did well, it seems that the fall did not destroy our morale and we still have the fighting spirit. Eduardo and I were almost among the top riders”.
 
Volta a Algarve
It was a good stage for the Caja Rural-Seguros RGA team where the Uruguayan rider Fabricio Ferrari managed to be present in the day’s escape. The Caja Rural-Seguros RGA rider escaped during a large part of the stage along with Marcel Sieberg, Andreas Schillinger, Wesley Kreder and Ivan Balykin. This escape resulted in a 5-minute advantage. The peloton nullified this escape 28 kilometres before the finish-line.

Josemi Fernández, the team director, said after the stage: “There was an escape right from the start and we managed to get Ferrari in there, the peloton controlled this escape that did not go beyond the 5-minute mark. The finish was dangerous and likely to result in breakaways due to the descent. Grijalba and Vilela were among the first 30 to finish. It was bittersweet, Omar [Fraile] had cramps and we missed out on a great opportunity. Lets see how we go in the time trial and in the final stage with the high-altitude finish”.