DUBAI — On his 26th birthday, Fernando Gaviria put in an emphatic display to win stage 2 of the Tour du Limousin in France. With 25km still left to go, the gap to the breakaway hovered at around 2’30 but with some strong pulls on the front from team captain Marco Marcato and his other UAE teammates the gap was quickly reduced to the three escapees. The key move came just a kilometer from the line, when Joel Suter (Bingoal- Wallonie Bruxelles) moved clear with Gaviria quickly jumping on his wheel. The Colombian unleashed his trademark sprint with 200m to go to win comfortably and claim the teams 17th victory of the season. Gaviria: “I’m very happy about today. It’s the best birthday present I could have asked for. Yesterday was just that little bit too hard for me on the second last climb but I looked at the course today and knew it would suit me better. “It was a complicated finish. It was important to stay near the front on the narrow roads on the run-in to the line, even if it meant jumping off the front and following attacks , as I did. “I’m happy the legs were there to be able to do it. At the moment I’m building up to the big goal which is the Giro d’Italia, but there are a lot of races I want to do well in before then.” Stage 2 results: 1.Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) 4:13:18; 2.Joel Suter (Bingoal- Wallonie Bruxelles) s.t.; 3.Kevin Ledanois (Arkea-Samsic) s.t. General Classification after stage 2: 1.Joel Suter (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) 8:43:45; 2.Luca Wackermann (Vini-Zabu); 3. Kevin Ledanois (Arkea-Samsic) @7”; 9.Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) @16”. Also in action this week was Diego Ulissi who battled to a podium finish on the brutally hard uphill finish at the Giro Dell’ Emilia. The Italian went into the race in good form, after an 8th place at Il Lombardia and 2nd in Gran Piemonte the week previous. Ulissi said: “I gave my best, even though I found myself drifting and coming back to the group at times I tried to keep a consistent effort for the whole race, especially when it got hard. In the final I used all my remaining strength on the last climb, giving my best and earning a spot on the podium.” Ulissi and his Italian UAE Team Emirates teammates will now turn their attention to the Italian National Championships, which take place on Sunday Aug. 23 with a lap from Bassano del Grappa to Cittadella (254km). Giro dell’Emilia Results: 1. Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) 4:59:38; 2. Joao Almeida (Deceuninck Quickstep) @9”; 3. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) @18”. — SG