Alejandro Valverde misses out on the second stage of the Volta a Catalunya
After having an ideal start to his 2012 campaign, Alejandro Valverde has struggled during the fifth biggest race of the season, Volta a Catalunya.
The Spaniard is currently riding his home World Tour race and has not really performed to his potential in the opening two stages.
Valverde, definitely a strong contender for the overall victory achieved the 50th position during the opening stage of the race.
The other two favourites are Bradley Wiggins and Andy Schleck. The duo finished the 138.9 kilometre stage at the 165th and the 104 position respectively.
Team Movistar cyclist was optimistic to finish amongst the top bunch during the second stage but was unfortunately caught up in a crash and lost crucial minutes.
"Just as we were heading out of the feed zone, there was a bottle on the road, the front wheel got over it and I crashed on my right side against a curb", he noted.
Valverde continued, "These things happen: sometimes everything's good, sometimes everything goes wrong. The route was really good for me, but this is a rider's life”.
“Leaving the bad side apart, we have to be happy. I have much pain, especially on the right side, in my shoulder. Let's see how we rest and wake up to evaluate what we can do tomorrow".
The 31-year-old had an ideal start to his 2012 campaign with as many as six victories already in his bag.
His first win came during the second stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia. The cyclist also claimed the point’s classifications of the race along with the overall victory at the event.
Alejandro finished second during the UCI inaugural event Santos Tour Down Under and also grabbed the fifth stage of the race.
He succeeded during the third stage of the Paris-Nice and also occupied the third overall spot after the final general classifications.
The Spaniard currently holds the 101st overall spot after the stage 2 classifications. Michael Albasini is leading the category after claiming both the two opening stages of the race.
Valverde is now eying the third stage of the Volta a Catalunya to open his winning account at the home event.
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