Erik Zabel, captain of the German ProTour team Milram won the second stage of the Volta a Valenciana. The 177 km stage from Alzir to Xativa ended in a mass sprint, giving the 37 year-old his first victory of the young season.

Mirco Lorenzetto (Lampre) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) took second and third places. MILRAM's Albert Ongarato finished in eighth place, to top off the team's good results.

"That was a very challenging final sprint, since it went uphill to the finish line and was pretty narrow,“ Erik Zabel told Roadcycling.com. „So I am very happy with my first season victory. As a team we worked very well today, especially in the last 20 km, when we forced the tempo and set up the mass sprint.“

A three-man escape group of Juan Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Gustavo Cesar (Karpin Ga) and Timothy Duggan (Slipstream-Chipotle) stayed away for much of the second stage of the Volta a Valenciana, which featured five Category 3 ranked climbs. They held an advantage of up to 3:30 minutes before MILRAM took the initiative some 25 km before the finish and picked up the tempo on the final climb up the Alt de Beniganim. The peloton followed, absorbed the escapees about 12 km before the finish, and then it came down to the mass sprint.

Stage 2: February 27, 2008: Alzira - Xativa (177 km):
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram       04:31:22
2 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre                                        
3 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis                                        
4 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                                       
5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre                                       
6 Javier Benitez (Spa) Benfica                                         
7 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott                               
8 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                                   
9 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                
10 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                               
11 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                 
12 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre                                      
13 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                
14 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis                                        
15 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Benfica                                           
16 Chris Sutton (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                        
17 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank                                          
18 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                             
19 Edgar Pinto (Por) Benfica                                           
20 Juan Francisco Mourón Doldan (Spa) Karpin Galicia                   
21 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana                                       
22 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                
23 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom                                 
24 Xabat Ochotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario               
25 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                      
26 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              
27 Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                          
28 Antonio Colom (Spa) Astana                                          
29 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis                                         
30 Daniel Petrov (Bul) Benfica                                         
31 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                           
32 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana                                         
33 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                               
34 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre                                             
35 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana                                         
36 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram                                   
37 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                               
38 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas                                      
39 Julian Dean (NZl) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                         
40 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario                   
41 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
42 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                               
43 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram                                        
44 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                     0.08
45 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre                                        
46 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis                                      
47 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas                                      
48 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre                                         
49 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                               
50 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank                                      
51 Josep Jufré (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                               
52 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom                               
53 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas                                  
54 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                               
55 José Mendes (Por) Benfica                                           
56 Manuel Váquez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                           
57 Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                         
58 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                      
59 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Milram                                     
60 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Benfica                                         
61 Pedro Miguel Lopes Goncalves (Por) Benfica                          
62 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                      
63 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                            
64 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                            
65 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                             
66 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank                                      
67 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin Galicia                             0.13
68 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                                
69 Patrick McCarty (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                     
70 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                             
71 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                                           
72 Serafín Martínez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                               
73 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Astana                                         
74 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Rabobank                                      
75 Alberto Fernández De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott            
76 Antonio Piedra (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                              
77 Juan Olmo (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                                   
78 Claudio Casas (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                               
79 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                        
80 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                    
81 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana                                            
82 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana                                         
83 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank                                     
84 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                      
85 David Martín Velasco (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                      
86 Eladio Sánchez Prado (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                      
87 Jean Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis                                    
88 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas                                      
89 Alan Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                  
90 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario      
91 Julien Mazet (Fra) Astana                                           
92 Juan Javier Estrada (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                      0.21
93 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis                                         
94 Luis Angel Maté (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                          0.23
95 Alberto Fernández Sainz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        
96 Sergio Dominguez Munoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                  
97 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                                        
98 Iván Melero Coco (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                          
99 José Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                          
100 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre                                         
101 Julián Sánchez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                         
102 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario                
103 Adrián Palomares (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                       
104 Héctor González (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                       0.28
105 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Team Milram                                0.33
106 Gonzalo Zambrano (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario           0.38
107 Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Karpin Galicia                          1.54
108 Dmitry Kozontchouk (Rus) Rabobank                                  
109 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre                                         
110 Daniel Martin (Irl) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                      
111 Ramon Troncoso (Spa) Karpin Galicia                                
112 Israel Pérez Rodriguez (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario     2.28
113 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis                                     4.00
114 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                                5.06
115 Volodymyr Diudia (Ukr) Team Milram                                 
116 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa) Karpin Galicia                          
117 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               
118 Juan José Oroz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
119 Eriz Ruiz D'Erentxun (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                     
120 Raúl Alarcón (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                             
121 Alejandro Paleo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                               
122 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario             
123 Timothy Duggan (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                     
124 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                         6.22
125 Sergio Andres De Lis (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                     
126 Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
127 Guido Trenti (USA) Liquigas                                        
128 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
129 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis                                        
130 Helder Miranda (Spa) Benfica                                    7.06
131 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                          9.39
132 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                              
133 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                        15.26
134 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

Overall rankings after stage 2:
1 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne       08:18:11
2 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Benfica                                         0.04
3 Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             0.06
4 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom                              
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana                                     0.09
6 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis                                      0.10
7 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                                 
8 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                       
9 Antonio Colom (Spa) Astana                                           
10 Daniel Petrov (Bul) Benfica                                         
11 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                
12 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre                                             
13 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas                                      
14 Trent Lowe (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                          
15 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis                                         
16 David López García (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                           
17 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom                               
18 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
19 Manuel Váquez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                        0.12
20 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                     0.18
21 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas                                      
22 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Lampre                                        
23 Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bouygues Telecom                            0.21
24 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                          0.27
25 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                     1.33
26 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                                   1.43
27 Javier Benitez (Spa) Benfica                                        
28 Edgar Pinto (Por) Benfica                                           
29 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                 
30 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom                                 
31 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank                                          
32 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre                                      
33 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott                              
34 Juan Francisco Mourón Doldan (Spa) Karpin Galicia                   
35 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario                   
36 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram                                   
37 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                              
38 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Astana                                         
39 Maxim Iglinsky (Kaz) Astana                                         
40 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                            1.51
41 Lucas Euser (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                         
42 Josep Jufré (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                               
43 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                               
44 Oleg Chuzhda (Ukr) Contentpolis - Murcia                            
45 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas                                  
46 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank                                      
47 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis                                      
48 José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                      
49 José Mendes (Por) Benfica                                           
50 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Benfica                                         
51 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                            
52 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Milram                                     
53 Gonzalo Rabunal (Spa) Karpin Galicia                             1.56
54 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                                
55 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank                                        
56 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Liquigas                                      
57 Patrick McCarty (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                     
58 Javier Etxarri Marin (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                    
59 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                      
60 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                             
61 Alan Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                                  
62 Antonio Piedra (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                              
63 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis                                      2.04
64 Julián Sánchez (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                       2.06
65 Héctor González (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                        2.11
66 Gustavo César Veloso (Spa) Karpin Galicia                        6.44
67 Timothy Duggan (USA) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                   6.45
68 Juan José Oroz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                           6.46
69 Jean Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis                                 9.29
70 Daniel Martin (Irl) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                   11.10
71 Pedro Miguel Lopes Goncalves (Por) Benfica                      11.46
72 David Martín Velasco (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                  11.51
73 Francisco Terciado Sacedo (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario      
74 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre                                   12.29
75 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis                                   12.31
76 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram                              12.35
77 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre                                      
78 Manuel Ortega (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                               
79 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram                               
80 Chris Sutton (Aus) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                        
81 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram                                        
82 Xabat Ochotorena (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario               
83 Julian Dean (NZl) Slipstream Chipotle - H30                         
84 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre                                     12.43
85 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                      
86 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank                                      
87 Claudio Casas (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                           12.47
88 Rick Flens (Ned) Rabobank                                       12.48
89 Serafín Martínez (Spa) Karpin Galicia                               
90 Michiel Elijzen (Ned) Rabobank                                      
91 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank                                     
92 Juan Olmo (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                                   
93 Thomas Frei (Swi) Astana                                            
94 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Astana                                         
95 Julien Mazet (Fra) Astana                                           
96 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana                                         
97 Eladio Sánchez Prado (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                      
98 Alberto Fernández De La Puebla (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott            
99 Juan Javier Estrada (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                     12.56
100 Sergio Dominguez Munoz (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia             12.58
101 Adrián Palomares (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                       
102 Luis Angel Maté (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                            
103 Iván Melero Coco (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                         
104 José Luis Carrasco (Spa) Andalucía-Cajasur                         
105 Alberto Fernández Sainz (Spa) Karpin Galicia                       
106 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario                
107 Fabio Baldato (Ita) Lampre                                         
108 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas                                       
109 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Team Milram                               13.08
110 Gonzalo Zambrano (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario          13.13
111 Ramon Troncoso (Spa) Karpin Galicia                            13.32
112 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre                                     14.29
113 Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Karpin Galicia                             
114 Dmitry Kozontchouk (Rus) Rabobank                                  
115 Israel Pérez Rodriguez (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario    15.03
116 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis                                    16.35
117 Alejandro Paleo (Spa) Karpin Galicia                           17.41
118 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas                                   
119 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                               
120 Volodymyr Diudia (Ukr) Team Milram                                 
121 Eriz Ruiz D'Erentxun (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                     
122 Enrique Salgueiro (Spa) Extremadura-Ciclismo Solidario             
123 Raúl Alarcón (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott                         18.20
124 Sergio Andres De Lis (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                 18.57
125 Florent Brard (Fra) Cofidis                                        
126 Unai Uribarri (Spa) Orbea - Oreka S.D.A                            
127 Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis - Murcia                     
128 Andoni Lafuente (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                            
129 Guido Trenti (USA) Liquigas                                        
130 Helder Miranda (Spa) Benfica                                   19.41
131 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                          22.14
132 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi                             
133 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                        28.01
134 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

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