Barloworld's Australian rider Baden Cooke finished second in the Euskal Bizikleta's 162.7 km second stage this weekend. The stage finished in a bunch sprint and was edged by Euskaltel's Koldo Fernandez, while Caisse d'Epargne's Jose Rojas finished third.
Cooke, who has seen his form improve a lot recently, set up the sprint ahead of the peloton, but was beaten by Fernandez, who passed Cooke only in the last 50m. "Baden had a great sprint," said Barloworld Team Manager Claudio Corti, "and he was really close to the win. Unluckily he had to face a strong Koldo Fernand! ez, just back from Giro d'Italia."This weekend's result, gave the team the right optimism looking ahead to the next couple of races in the run up to the Tour de France, where Baden Cooke will be a sure protagonist.
