Day 2 saw more excitement as race favourite Isaak Papadimitriou ended it at the top of the General Classification with a storming win at Viana do Castelo - Portelinha.
  
  In the early morning racing, Jahn Rosenlund of Team Jochem pipped Patya Gordeyeva of Yuri SuperTeam to the honours in a sprint finish. Stage 2 had been a tightly contested affair with a bunch sprint eventuating near the end. The two broke free with 5 metres to go, but Rosenlund had enough in reserve to just cross the line ahead of his rival. Team iPower's Dan Korošec came close but was blocked off near the end and came home in third.
  
  There were several teams who obviously had other plans in mind rather than contesting the stage, with the main culprits being the Dodge and _Striker_ teams. While the former could have been forgiven after losing their captain in a horrific crash on Day 1, the Dutch team were obviously conserving energy for later stages. The riders coasted behind the peloton, joking and laughing and at one point even stopped for a picnic.
  
  Stage 3 was a much more tightly contested affair as the climbers finally came into play. The race start was in Viana do Castelo for once, at the mouth of the Lima River. However, the riders had better things to do than hang around for sightseeing as the race kicked off in a furious fashion. Mas''ud Qutaiba of Torreira was an early victim as he dropped a power bar into the spokes of his front

wheel and crashed while reaching over to rectify the matter. While he was tended to on the spot, he could not continue and it looks like his Volta adventure is over. Bitterly disappointed, he looked to be crying on the sidelines as fans snapped away with their cameras.
  
  There was more drama and heartbreak to come in the race as an error by MCT's French captain Herman Girault saw him take out Team iPower's Albert Holm in a high speed crash that had spectators gaping in horror. Both riders were airlifted to hospital and are reported to be in stable condition. This incident led to an ugly confrontation as the two team cars stopped by the side of the road and the managers exchanged obscenities. Fans on the side of the road, who were having the time of their life by now, egged the men on before security stepped in to break it up.
  
  Club Ciclista Riaza's Greek demigod Isaak Papadimitriou took the stage in emphatic fashion as Frank van Galen of Il Grillo and Yasunari Yamauchi of Gradient Levellers trundled in behind him.
  
  Papadimitriou was ecstatic after the race, sniggering to reporters, "At least I didn't do a Yamuauchi." in what was believed to be a sly dig at the hapless third placed contestant and his efforts at last year's Volta.
  
  Papdimitriou leads van Galen by a single second in the General Classification with Velo Club Bored Man's Bartosz Ozóg some way behind in third.