Things got controversial in Catalunya –  as if a 41.3 km team time trial in a one week stage race wasn’t controversial enough.

Stage 2: Banyoles to Banyoles, TTT, 41.3 km

Fresh from their TTT success at Tirreno-Adriatico, early starters BMC posted the time everyone had to beat – a lung busting 48.57 mins. Team after team rolled over the line and no one came close, until word from the course said Movistar were on fire. Indeed they caught and passed the team that started three minutes in front of them (spare a thought for Roompot). Surely they couldn’t keep this up was the general consensus, but they proved the pundits wrong. Teeth gritted the lime green wriggle kits charged over the line to beat BMC by 2secs. Sky finished third at +46secs, with 4th on the day Trek needing to find 1.15min on the road to Barcelona. Movistarlet Jose Joaquin Rojas became the new race leader.

However, trouble was a-brewing. Video footage emerged from the BMC camp showing Rojas ‘pushing’ his teammates Nelson Oliveira and Andrey Amador – something which contravenes UCI rules. A complaint was lodged and the race jury handed out a 3 min penalty to Rojas, two mins to Amador and one min Oliviera. Which caused yet more controversy as the UCI rules for such infringements state a one-minute penalty for each rider on the team and a fine for the riders involved.

State of play at the end of day is that Movistar still won the stage, all the time gaps between the teams on the stage stand, and Alejandro Valverde is now in the leader’s jersey.

STOP PRESS… the race jury are meeting again tonight. There may yet be new developments!!!! #STAYALERT

Highlights…

Pushes and rules – we always look to the Inner Ring as the voice of reason…

Regardless of how we view this. Once the race jury ruled that it was pushing the rules should be applied consistently. We await further developments.

As expected there were some GC hope-shattering time gaps. Quickstep Floors finished 10th leaving Dan Martin 2.13mins adrift of Valverde. We really admired his tweet #chapeau Dan…

Can’t imagine anything worse…

Words of wisdom…

Full report at Cycling News.

Race Website  Race Twitter #VoltaCatalunya

Header image:JJ Rojas and Alejandro Valverde  © JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images