Stolen bike or not: Paula Blasi blows everyone away at Tour of Catalonia queen stage

Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) won stage two of the Tour of Catalonia on La Molina on Saturday. The Spanish talent had been confronted with a stolen bike on Friday, but put that setback firmly behind her in her home region by winning the queen stage.

Stage one of the Catalan stage race on Friday was mainly defined by the return of Marianne Vos, who made her comeback after a collarbone fracture sustained at the Vuelta a España. The Dutchwoman had better luck this time, finishing second straight away behind teammate Nienke Veenhoven.

"It's great to be back in the mix. It always takes a bit of getting used to in the peloton, but thanks in part to the team, it went really well," Vos said after the stage. "We had a plan with the team and we executed it brilliantly."

"Maud [Oudeman] did great work controlling the gap to the solo leader, and in the finale Margaux [Vigié] gave us a perfect lead-out. On the final straight Nienke went for it and I followed her wheel. I looked back, but saw that nobody else could come around us anymore. Finishing first and second is fantastic. I'm really happy with that," Vos concluded.

Day two brought a completely different kind of stage, with an uphill finish on La Molina. Paula Blasi, top favourite for UAE Team ADQ, began the day with a hangover of a different kind: her bike was stolen after stage one, meaning she had to start on her spare. Extra motivation to win for the home crowd, while her team and the police searched for the thief?

UAE Team ADQ also took control of the race on the road, meaning Veenhoven and Vos were always going to be dropped. The first serious attack came from Julie Van de Velde (AG Insurance-Soudal), but Blasi stuck closely to her wheel: it was clear she had only one objective that day. Her rivals knew it too.

Celia Gery followed her for a long time, but with 13 kilometres to go she could no longer answer the pace. With that, the Catalan bird had flown: Blasi took a comfortable, convincing win.