02.09.2007/ After his second spot at yesterdays opening stage of the Vuelta Espana, Oscar Freire won th second stage from Allariz to Santiago de Compostela. Freire also took over the leaders jersey, yesterdays stage winner Daniele Bennati was involved in a crash inside the 3000 meter zone.

Cantabrian rider Oscar Freire won today’s stage in Santiago de Compostela. Additionally, the Rabobank star becomes the new holder of the race’s Golden Jersey. The stage, which was held between Alleriz and Santiago, saw a break that lasted for more than 100 kilometers by Raúl García de Mateo (Relax Gam), Manuel Vázquez (Andalucia Caja Sur) and Gustavo Domínguez (Karpin Galicia). With all three riders belonging to teams which were invited with a wild card, each was out to show that their respective team merited such “wild-card” status. The Relax, Andalucia and Karpin riders were finally caught a mere 12 kilometres from the finish by Angel Gómez (Saunier Duval). The final kilometres saw the Liquigas and Milram teams take control, although a crash within the final 3 kilometres saw the bunch thrown into chaos, with Daniele Bennati, Oscar Pereiro and Carlos Castaño coming off worst. With little more than 20 riders at the head of the bunch, Freire outsprinted Bettini (Quickstep) and Duque (Cofodis), proof that the uphill finish proved tough going for the pure sprinters.

Damiano Cunego and Oscar Pereiro have enjoyed contrasting fortunes today. The Italian rider suffered a crash during the first stage, although he was able to complete today’s Alleriz-Santiago de Compostela stage without the assistance of the race doctors. Another rider that was involoved in yesterdays crash, Sergio Paulinho, needed treatment of the race doctors during todays second stage.  While Cunego seems to be on the road to recovery, Oscar Pereiro has become a cause for concern. The Galician rider received a heavy blow to his hip during a crash today, and may require hospitalisation in order to discover the extent of his injuries. Carlos Castaño, the rider who got the worst of today's crash, certainly needed the attention of the race medics. The Karpin rider suffered a dislocated shoulder, which was put back into place by the race doctors during the stage. Nevertheless, the Madrid rider is to be subjected to medical tests in order to evaluate his condition in greater detail.

During the post race press conference, Oscar Freire admitted that he felt in fantastic form today: "I felt very good all day. I was second on the first stage, but I was not feeling very good. Today, however, I thought that the pace was too slow. And at the finish I saw that was not the case, rather that I was on very good form indeed. Plus, after four consecutive second placings, I think I deserved a change in my luck." Freire did not shy away from questions about the current state of cycling, offering his own opinion of the current situation: "I am not surprised by what is happening. Among other reasons, because when I won the Milan – San Remo, there were many more journalists who thought it was more important to talk about Jesus Manzano’s knee problems. That showed a lack of respect. To be honest, winning the Milan – San Remo is far more important some madman's knee problems. Valverde? Of course I want him to ride the World Championships, but if I’m on good form, he’ll have to help me."

Results

Stage 2

1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                         3.31.03 (42.274 km/h)
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic                      
3 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone          
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                    
5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner                              
6 René Mandri (Est) AG2r Prévoyance                               
7 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                           
8 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                        
9 Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                               
10 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile Team                           
11 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Crédit Agricole                            
12 David López (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                             
13 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank                                   
14 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                    
15 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux                      
16 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas                                 
17 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                  
18 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic                    
19 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC                                   
20 Addy Engels (Ned) Quickstep - Innergetic                       
21 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                          
22 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram                                   
23 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas                                
24 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                             
25 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                        
26 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole                      
27 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner                                
28 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Liquigas                                  
29 Elia Rigotto (Ita) Team Milram                                 
30 David García (Spa) Karpin Galicia                              
31 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team                              
32 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas                                  
33 Matej Jurco (Svk) Team Milram                                  
34 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                  
35 Jose Ruiz Sanchez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                    
36 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                        
37 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française des Jeux                       
38 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team CSC                            
39 Aitor Hernández (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                      
40 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Karpin Galicia                           
41 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
42 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Crédit Agricole                       
43 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                            
44 José Ángel Gómez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir        
45 Tim Klinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                 
46 Adam Hansen (Aus) T-Mobile Team                                
47 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic                
48 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic                        
49 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic                     
50 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team         
51 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner                               
52 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto                            
53 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           
54 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole                        
55 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank                                 
56 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                      
57 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole                          
58 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                         
59 Roy Sentjens (Ned) Predictor - Lotto                           
60 Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance                           
61 Nacor Burgos Rojo (Spa) Relax - Gam                            
62 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone       
63 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux                            
64 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Crédit Agricole                             
65 Serafín Martínez Acevedo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                  
66 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole                           
67 José Antonio Lopez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                   
68 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                            
69 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                           
70 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner                            
71 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner                         
72 Erki Pütsep (Est) Bouygues Telecom                             
73 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                         
74 Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                        
75 Juan Olmo Menacho (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                    
76 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir                 
77 Mario Aerts (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                            
78 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre - Fondital                        
79 Bert Grabsch (Ger) T-Mobile Team                               
80 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux                     
81 Josep Jufré (Spa) Predictor - Lotto                            
82 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank                                     
83 Mauricio Alberto Ardila (Col) Rabobank                         
84 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom                            
85 Manuel Ortega Ocana (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                  
86 Ruben Lobato Elvira (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir               
87 Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                           
88 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile Team                           
89 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner                           
90 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir                
91 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone         
92 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance                         
93 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto                           
94 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                      
95 David Herrero Llorente (Spa) Karpin Galicia                    
96 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Gerolsteiner                             
97 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank                            
98 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team                              
99 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank                                  
100 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone           
101 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC                               
102 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC                                   
103 Iker Camaño (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir                      
104 José Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                  
105 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone         
106 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                           
107 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                  
108 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                    
109 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Prodir                 
110 Alberto Fernandez De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir   
111 Philip Deignan (Irl) AG2r Prévoyance                          
112 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas                              
113 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas                             
114 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française des Jeux                           
115 Julian Sanchez Pimienta (Spa) Relax - Gam                     
116 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Relax - Gam                   
117 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux                      
118 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                       
119 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank                           
120 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax - Gam                               
121 Raúl García De Mateos (Spa) Relax - Gam                       
122 Jorge Garcia Marin (Spa) Relax - Gam                          
123 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quickstep - Innergetic                     
124 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team                           
125 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team                               
126 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic                   
127 Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                         
128 Carlos Da Cruz (Fra) Française des Jeux                       
129 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Crédit Agricole                        
130 Marc De Maar (Ned) Rabobank                                   
131 Francisco Jose Martinez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur             
132 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax - Gam                               
133 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax - Gam                             
134 Javier Megias Leal (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir               
135 Santiago Perez (Spa) Relax - Gam                              
136 Arkaitz Durán (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir                    
137 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2r Prévoyance                       
138 Bart Dockx (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                            
139 Gustavo César (Spa) Karpin Galicia                            
140 Santos González (Spa) Karpin Galicia                          
141 Bert Roesems (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                          
142 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Predictor - Lotto                     
143 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone      
144 Jason McCartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      
145 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      
146 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram                               
147 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner                             
148 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC                              
149 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC                               
150 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team    
151 Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team          
152 Manuel Vazquez Huesco (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur               
153 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team    
154 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team CSC                              
155 Luis Perez Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia - Cayasur                
156 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC                          
157 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC                                  
158 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                        
159 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team                               
160 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic                   
161 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team       
162 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                       
163 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team      
164 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                         
165 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre - Fondital                          
166 Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                       
167 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2r Prévoyance                          
168 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone         
169 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux                        
170 Gustavo Domínguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
171 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                        
172 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                              
173 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Liquigas                           
174 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas                               
175 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Team Milram                              
176 Martin Müller (Ger) Team Milram                               
177 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                      
178 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                    
179 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     
180 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole                            
181 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                      
182 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                     
183 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone      
184 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone     
185 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                       
186 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Lampre - Fondital                       
187 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           
188 Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                     17.21