Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team riders Michal Golas and Julien Vermote finished 5th and 10th in 225km Tour of Britain Stage 2 on Monday.
Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) won the stage, which included an uphill finale. Sam Bennett (An Post-Chainreaction) was 2nd, and Thomas Lovkvist (IAM Cycling) was 3rd. Lovkvist was solo going into the flamme rouge, but he was caught and passed by Ciolek and Bennett. There were many attacks throughout the race, but none could stick.
"Another tough day at the Tour of Britain," Golas said. "The rain accompanied us for the entire day. I thought it was good because I was really motivated and I haven't really had problems wih the rain. I was good but at about 10km to go I punctured. I changed the wheel and with some nice help from Iljo and I managed to come back. At the final sprint, however, I paid a bit for the effort I did to come back. I wasn't really brilliant. In any case I stayed with the best. The condition is good and after tomorrow's TT I will try for a stage win again."
Alessandro Petacchi suffered a crash at about 70km to go and lost contact from the peloton as a result. He has abrasions on his left hip, leg, and elbow. He finished the race.