Team Garmin-Transitions is off to a strong start in the first two stages of the Tour of the Basque Country in Northern Spain. On stage 1 Christian Meier made it into the main break, earning him the sprint jersey — while Ryder Hesjedal mixed it up in the sprint to finish on the podium. Both Hesjedal and Dan Martin are in position to contend for the overall.
Tuesday’s stage 2 saw Hesjedal again gave it a go in the finish and took another top ten, while Meier held his lead in the sprints. Christian sent us this report on a tumultuous day.
“Yeah, it was a rough day,” said Meier. “I got taken down on the final climb, nothing serious but it took me out of the front of the race. I was hoping I could be there to help out in the finale but that’s how she goes I guess.”
“I got in the early break yesterday and took the majority of the sprints and today the guys did an awsome job leading me out to take the last sprint of the day after the break had come back. So I was able to extend my lead by a few more points.”
“But the first priority is obviously doing our work for Ryder and Dan but if we can try and grab a few points here and there we may be able to hold onto the jersey for the week.”
