October 9, 2007 – Carlos Hernández (Team Canels) won the second stage of the Vuelta a Chihuahua yesterday, beating American Steven Cozza (Slipstream) and Daniel Moreno (Relax-GAM). American Danny Pate (Slipstream) now leads the Tour.

The day’s event was marked by three breakaway riders Hernández (Team Canels), Steven Cozza (Team Slipstream), and Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Relax-GAM) who broke away in the early stags of the race. The trio built a huge gap of over eight minutes at one point. Ricardo Samuel Tapia (Arenas Tlaxcala) also joined the trio at the 60km mark.

“They just sort of took off,” Symmetrics Fuelled By FarmPure’s Geoff Kabush said after the race. “Right at the KOM, they disappeared and the pack didn’t really respond.”

As the stage progressed, Saunier Duval-Prodir, Tecos-Trek and Liberty Seguros starting pulling back the break. By the final kilometres, the Relax-GAM squad upped the pace. Tapia got dropped from the break, leaving only three riders to stay ahead of the charging peloton. By the end, the three riders stayed away—just barely. In the group, the S-Team was content to let the other teams do the bulk of the work, knowing that the days ahead will bring plenty of change.

“I stayed near the front and watched the other G.C. riders,” Christian Meier said, 12th overall. “I knew that the break would stay away once they got the big gap, but there’s still the chance for splits on a stage like this. I think the days ahead will be super-tough, and I think we can pull off some good results.”

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Results (brief)

1. Carlos Hernández (Mex) Team Canels
2. Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream
3. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax-Gam

GC after Stage 2

1. Danny Pate (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 5.01.13
2. Filipe Cardoso (Por) Liberty Seguros
3. Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Relax-Gam
4. Antonio D’aniello (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia
5. Mejias Javier (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
6. Cuitlahuac Ayala (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
7. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Agritubel
8. José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Fuerteventura-Canarias
9. Jose Gerardo Soto (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
10. Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia
11. Gilberto Porras (Mex) Rica Burguer
12. Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
13. Emilien Benoit Bergès (Fra) Agritubel
14. Santiago Perez Fernandez (Spa) Relax-Gam
15. Pedro Covarrubias (Mex) Orven
16. Francisco Matamoros (Mex) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
17. Lucas Euser (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
18. David Bernabeu Armengol (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
19. Timothy Duggan (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
20. David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
21. Martin Robles (Mex) Rica Burguer
22. Gregorio Ladino (Col) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
23. Vitor Rodrigues (Por) Liberty Seguros
24. Cameron Evans (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
25. Eduardo Graciano (Mex) Orven
26. Antonio Aldape (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
27. David Salomon (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
28. Dan Bowman (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
29. Eric Keim (USA) AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Pro Cycling Team
30. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Relax-Gam
31. Edgardo Lugo (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
32. Jessel Valenzuela (Mex) Orven
33. Mikel Artetxe Gezuraga (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
34. Steven Cozza (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
35. Rafael Aguilar (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
36. Nacor Burgos Rojo (Spa) Relax-Gam
37. Fausto Esparza (Mex) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
38. Edgar Treviño (Mex) Orven
39. Marco Rios (Mex) Fullerton Bicycles-Novo
40. Oscar Sevilla Ribera (Spa) Relax-Gam
41. Carlos Manuel Hernandez (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
42. Hector Rangel (Mex) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
43. Iosvani Falcon (Cub) AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Pro Cycling Team
44. Fabian Reyes (Mex) Fullerton Bicycles-Novo
45. Oscar Barron (Mex) Orven
46. César Antunes Quiterio (Por) Liberty Seguros
47. Oswaldo Hernandez (Mex) Fullerton Bicycles-Novo
48. Eder Arenas (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
49. Daniel Duarte (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
50. Gianluca Geremia (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia
51. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
52. Roberto Rodriguez (Mex) Fullerton Bicycles-Novo
53. Saul Figueroa (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
54. Pedro Garibay (Mex) Fullerton Bicycles-Novo
55. Jonathan Reid Mumford (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
56. Carlos Lopez (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
57. Nuno Ribeiro (Por) Liberty Seguros
58. Jesus Grajeda (Mex) Orven
59. Domingo Gonzalez (Mex) Orven
60. Bernardo Colex Tepoz (Mex) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
61. Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel
62. Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel
63. Arquimedes Lam (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
64. Alex Hagman (USA) AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Pro Cycling Team
65. Geoffrey Kabush (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
66. Juan Pablo Villela (Mex) Rica Burguer
67. Ivan Borunda (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
68. Martin Gilbert (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
69. Blake Caldwell (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
70. Luis Pinheiro (Por) Liberty Seguros
71. José de Jesus Gomez (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
72. Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
73. Adriano Angeloni (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia
74. John Fredy Parra (Col) Tecos de la Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara
75. Justin Spinelli (USA) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
76. David Winston (USA) AEG-Toshiba-Jetnetwork Pro Cycling Team
77. William Frishkorn (USA) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
78. Will Routley (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
79. Jose Miguel Elias Galindo (Spa) Relax-Gam
80. Eduardo Vicencio (Mex) Rica Burguer
81. Carlos Nozal Vega (Spa) Liberty Seguros
82. Juan Miguel Mercado Martin (Spa) Agritubel
83. Enrique Mendez (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
84. Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
85. Joel Alamillo (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
86. Ryan Blicken (USA) Rica Burguer
87. Antonio Velazquez (Mex) Rica Burguer
88. Miguel Angel Gonzalez (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
89. Ryan Roth (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
90. Misael Ramirez (Mex) Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua
91. David Muñoz (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
92. Kevin Lacombe (Can) Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
93. Henry Swinty (USA) Rica Burguer
94. David Belda (Spa) Fuerteventura-Canarias
95. Alberto Fernandez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
96. Uriel Clara (Mex) Canel’s Turbo
97. Gabriel Juarez (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
98. Ricardo Samuel Tapia (Mex) Arenas Tlacala
99. Arkaitz Duran (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
100. Adam Wadecki (Pol) Ceramica Flaminia

October 12, 2006 – Canada’s number one pro team, Symmetrics Cycling, had another strong day in Mexico yesterday with the second stage of the Vuelta a Chihuahua. Although the day didn’t go perfectly, there were still some strong results. It was a 80km circuit race on the same 4km course as the prologue. The S-Team was trying to keep it together for a field sprint so Andrew Pinner could take the win and Svein Tuft would keep the jersey from his victory in stage 1.

With 16km remaining the field was together and at that point Pinner flatted. Symmetrics sent 4 riders back for him and at the same time a attack went off the front which Svein tagged. Although it didn’t have any GC guys in the move, it was opening up a gap so Svein started to drive the break to put time on GC guys. It opened up about 30 seconds on the field and Svein finished 4th. Today, the team should ride a more traditional jersey defence as Svein is feeling confident Symmetrics Cycling is the strongest team. Time will tell…