Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed victory in Portugal with a dominant sprint win on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.
Norwegian moves into race lead of Volta ao Algarve
Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed Team Sky's fourth victory of the 2012 season with a dominant sprint finish on stage two of the Volta ao Algarve.
Boasson Hagen bided his time behind the Omega Pharma-Quickstep train in the final kilometre of the run from Faro to Lagoa before pouncing at the perfect time.
He held off Vacansoleil-DCM rider Kris Boeckmans by half a bike-length, while Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) completed the top three.
The result also puts Boasson Hagen into the yellow leader's jersey, level on time with Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol) but boasting better stage placings over the two days of racing so far.
The Norwegian seized the initiative on the tough drag to the line after ninth place on Wednesday's stage one, while the rest of the team finished safely to congratulate the 24-year-old.
Winning performance
The good weather continued in the Algarve for the second day in succession as the 187.5-kilometre test got under way, leaving Faro ahead of an undulating run west to Lagoa.
Almost from the gun a breakaway moved clear with the Portuguese continental teams well represented through Raul Alarcon (Efapel-Glassdrive) and Brit Tomas Swift-Metcalfe (Carmim-Prio-Tavira). Niels Wytinck (An Post-Sean Kelly) completed the trio.
The gap to the escapees spun out to a shade under the five-minute mark before the peloton made its presence felt, Lotto-Belisol leading the chase efforts on behalf of overnight leader Meersman.
The bunch kept the gap manageable over the two remaining third category climbs before the pace was cranked up a notch, with Swift-Metcalfe pushing on away from his counterparts before all three were eventually absorbed by the peloton.
Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Cesar Fonte (Efapel-Glassdrive) were next chance their arm but with the catch made at just under 20km to go, the cue was given for a number of short-lived attacks.
Dangerous duo Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) and Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale) were the last to be swept up in sight of Lagoa where Boasson Hagen convincingly netted his first win this season.
