Sergio Henao was a consistent second once again on stage two at the Vuelta a Burgos.

The Colombian followed home Daniel Moreno for a second consecutive stage as the pair faced off on another tough uphill sprint.

Moreno (Katusha) extended his lead in the stage race to two seconds while Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEDGE) held on to round out the podium as the sprinters and puncheurs pitted their wits against one another.

After a fast start the stage had been a straightforward one with Katusha helping to keep things in check in a bid to hang on to the purple leader’s jersey. With seven kilometres go to it was Team Sky who arrived on the front with numbers.

Ben Swift hit out as the peloton arrived at the ramp up to the line following the flamme rouge, while Rigoberto Urán was also in the mix to claim fifth.

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141km around Burgos greeted the riders on day two and there were a number of early attacks which enlivened the bunch.

It wasn’t until 24km when David Belda (Burgos) and Romain Sicard (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finally went clear, yet it took three more riders bridging across before the break was finally allowed some breathing space.

Katusha kept a watching brief, turning the screw and with the peloton bearing down the escapees looked to fire off the front in a bid to remain clear.

Team Sky hit the front in the final kilometres to line out the bunch and set up the sprint but it would be Moreno who took the spoils.

Getting closer

After the stage Sports Director Marcus Ljungqvist praised the performance of the team once again and admitted: "Sergio deserves a win that’s for sure.

“Moreno is really strong right now and Sergio had to close the gap at the end which of course cost him a little bit of energy. He is getting closer and it’s another good result.

“The rest of the team rode really well. We had a good plan and we stuck to it. Swifty went on the climb and then Katusha had to shut that down. It was a hectic and nervous final but the guys stayed safe and it is all looking good for the coming stages.

“Tomorrow looks like a good stage for Swifty. The time gaps are small and Katusha will look to control things ahead of the bunch sprint.”