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92nd Tour de France - GT
France, July 2-24, 2005
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - Sunday, July 3: Challans - Les Essarts, 181.5 km
Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney and Anthony Tan
Complete live report
Live coverage starts: 13:07 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:15 CEST
12:52 CEST
Welcome to sunny Challans for our
live coverage of the second stage of the Tour de France. Today's leg is 181.5
km, with the first half heading south east along the coastline before turning
north for the last 80 km and finishing in Essarts. There is one Cat. 4 climb
en route at the Côte du lac de la Vouraie with 16.5 km to go, and there are
three intermediate sprints at Orouet (km 17.5), Talmont-Saint-Hilaire (km 69.5),
and Château-Guibert (km 150). They should spice up the green jersey competition
a bit, as the yellow is essentially out of reach of most the sprinters after
yesterday's 19 km time trial, where Dave Zabriskie and Lance Armstrong put major
time into the rest of the field with incredible rides.
Zabriskie
will wear the yellow jersey today, and his CSC team should ride to defend it
as it would give them an advantage in Tuesday's team time trial to start last.
Armstrong, only 2 seconds behind Zabriskie, could even make that up in a time
bonus sprint, but Discovery Channel will probably choose to follow the CSC train
and conserve its men.
The sprinters teams, particularly Davitamon-Lotto,
Quick.Step, and Francaise des Jeux should ride for a bunch sprint today, and
not let any breaks get too far. That's the plan, anyway.
The weather
is very nice today: it's sunny and humid, with temperatures between 25-28 degrees,
and a little bit of wind. There were good crowds at the start, and Zabriskie
was completely hounded by the press.
12:56 CEST
Today's stage started at 12:35pm
with a lengthy neutral section out of Challans, but race director Jean-Marie
Leblanc will only drop the flag for the official start at 13:07(ish). Then there
will be attacks.
13:10 CEST
Besides Zabriskie in yellow today,
we will see Lance Armstrong in the green points jersey (even though Zabriskie
actually leads that competition) and Swiss Fabian Cancellara (Fassa Bortolo)
in the white jersey of Best Young Rider. Cyclingnews spoke to Cancellara
this morning and asked him about his ride yesterday, where he finished seventh
at 1'02 behind Zabriskie:
"I was a little disappointed that I didn't
do better yesterday," said Cance. "I really wanted to win. But you know, I'm
OK with the white jersey for now. This is the Tour so I'm going on the attack.
I'm not that far out of the lead. That's my plan, to do what I can do get into
yellow."
Cancellara has the freedom this year to do so, because
he doesn't have team sprinter Alessandro Petacchi to work for.
13:15 CEST 9km/172.5km to go
The stage started
a little earlier than scheduled at 13:01 CEST. So far, there have been no early
attacks as the peloton heads along the coast.
13:26 CEST 13km/168.5km to go
The attacks are
raining hard now, with Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r) the first to make a move at 9
km. That was the signal for war, and several groups have tried to get clear
from the CSC-led peloton. Rabobank has been particularly active, as they don't
really have a sprinter or a top GC rider.
13:32 CEST
OK there is Menchov for Rabobank
:-) He was 46th yesterday at 1'55.
13:38 CEST 27km/154.5km to go
Joost Posthuma
has led a group of 14 riders off the front of the peloton, shortly before the
first sprint at Orouet. But the group has come back, leaving just four riders
with 15 seconds lead: David Canada (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Laszlo Bodrogi (Credit
Agricole), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), and Sylvain Calzati (Ag2r-Prevoyance).
There has been a crash in the peloton, but everyone is back on their bikes.
13:43 CEST 30km/151.5km to go
The leading four
have now extended their advantage to 1'30 over the peloton, putting Laszlo Bodrogi
in the virtual maillot jaune (the space above riders' mantelpieces is full of
these). Bodrogi started the day in fifth, 0'59 behind Zabriskie.
13:44 CEST
Results of the first sprint: 1. Robert
Hunter (Phonak, 6pts), 2. Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner, 4pts), 3. Philippe Gilbert
(Francaise des Jeux, 2pts).
13:56 CEST 36km/145.5km to go
The four leaders
have now extended their advantage up to 2'05, and CSC will happily let them
sit out there, even with Bodrogi in the break.
13:59 CEST
The best placed sprinter after yesterday's
stage is South African Robert Hunter (Phonak), who is sitting in 23rd at 1'30.
Cyclingnews caught up with him this morning in Challans to ask about
his prospects today.
Do you think you'll get any help from your team
in the sprint? "No, I don't think anyone from our team is concentrating on helping
me in the finale," he replied. "I think I'll do my own thing today, and that's
fine. I'll just follow one of the guys from one of the other teams. That's not
a problem at all."
Hunter admitted that yesterday was hard: "Yeah
it was a lot longer than normal, but right now I'm the best placed sprinter."
How has your training been lately? "Leading up to the race, I've been feeling
good and riding well. Now there's nothing more you can do."
14:03 CEST 44km/137.5km to go
The other riders
in the break: Voeckler, Cañada, and Calzati, are not big threats to Zabriskie's
jersey, as they are all at least 2'48 down on GC. Voeckler will be a popular
lad though for getting into the first move of significance.
14:06 CEST 49.5km/132km to go
the leaders are
working pretty hard as they near the 50 km mark, averaging around 46-47 km/h,
but this has been helped by a light tailwind. The gap is up to 2'50 now.
The Saunier Duval jerseys have a bit more white on them than normal, in order
to distinguish them from the maillot jaune.
14:11 CEST 52.5km/129km to go
It's a hot day,
and plenty of riders are going back to the team cars for bidons in the peloton.
CSC is riding at the front, setting a pretty decent tempo. Zabriskie looks very
good in yellow. The gap is now 3'40.
"We're all here for each other,"
Zabriskie said at the start today. "Again, our number one goal is to help Ivan
[Basso]. I will still help Ivan and the [maillot jaune] doesn't change anything."
How long can you keep the yellow for? "I have no idea. The first week of the
Tour is always dangerous with a lot of crashes." You haven't always been the
best in crashes: "I've been progressing with that and working on it a lot. We'll
see how it goes." So how do you work on it? "Race more."
Stage wins
in all three grand tours in one year, what does it mean? "It's a good, good
feeling. It's quite an accomplishment as a person and a bike racer and it makes
me feel good. [The folks back home] were extremely excited. They can't believe
it either."
14:17 CEST 56.5km/125km to go
The gap is stable
now at 3'35 with the four leaders being cheered on by huge crowds standing in
the sun.
Luke Roberts is towing the peloton for CSC, with Jens Voigt
on his wheel. Zabriskie is in about 6th wheel, and Lance Armstrong (in the green
jersey) is back in 10th.
Luke Roberts told Cyclingnews that last
night, they celebrated with a glass of champagne each and a scoop of ice cream.
"Anyone who had a scoop of ice cream had to sit on the front all day. Because
I was going to have to do it anyway I thought I may as well have the ice cream,"
grinned Roberts.
14:22 CEST 60.5km/121km to go
Jan Ullrich gets
towed up towards the front by a teammate. He is up there with Vinokourov.
Dutch champion Leon van Bon (Davitamon-Lotto) is trying to get back onto the
peloton on the narrow roads, passing team cars with not much spare room.
Robbie McEwen is towards the back of the bunch, but he doesn't have to worry
about being well placed just yet. "I feel good," he told Cyclingnews at the
start. "What matters is at a quarter past five this afternoon. Everything else
before that doesn't really count."
What's the strategy? "Keep it
together and then after that, be able to change your strategy at any given moment,
because those first intermediate sprints are always really hectic.
"There's also the nerves of the GC guys, although some of those guys have lost
time. So just relax, sit back and enjoy the ride for the first few days and
wait for the sprints."
14:24 CEST 61.5km/120km to go
McEwen is now back
with the team car, having a chat to Mr Frison. He has Wim Vansevenant with him
for protection. He pulls over and gets a bike change. Didn't look like a flat.
14:26 CEST 66.5km/115km to go
McEwen is now up
to speed again, looking for cars to shelter behind as he makes his way back
through the caravan.
CSC has pegged the four leaders at 3'40. Bodrogi
is still the virtual maillot jaune, but many things can happen in 115 km.
14:28 CEST 67.5km/114km to go
McEwen now has
three teammates bringing him back to the peloton, looking fairly comfortable.
He's there now.
14:29 CEST 69.5km/112km to go
David Canada gets
some attention to his back number, which is coming off. He gets the good ol'
safety pins to fasten it on.
Bodrogi takes the sprint Talmont-Saint-Hilaire
in ahead of Voeckler and Calzati.
14:31 CEST
The pre-race medical check-up that
each of the 189 riders went through before the 2005 Tour de France got underway
on Saturday revealed some interesting factual tidbits about this year's peloton...
* At 35 beats per minute (BPM), Chris Horner (Saunier Duval) and Laurent Lefevre
(Bouygues Telecom) both have the lowest resting heart rates.
* And at 7.66
litres, two riders also have the largest lung capacity: Christophe Moreau (Credit
Agricole) and Mikel Astarloza (Ag2r-Prevoyance).
* The heaviest rider?
No prizes for guessing here: it's big Maggie Bäckstedt from Liquigas-Bianchi
- all 95 kilos of him!
* The lightest? This one's a little trickier: it's
Horner's team-mate, Leonardo Piepoli, weighing in at a featherweight 57 kilograms.
* The tallest? The long and lanky Johan Van Summeren, who falls just two centimetres
shy of the two-metre mark.
* The shortest? I am Sam, Ag2r-Prevoyance's
Samuel Dumoulin.
* The average rider: 1.79 metres tall, weighing 71 kilograms,
with a resting heart rate of 50 BPM and a lung capacity of 5.69 litres. The
average rider, but by no means average figures!
14:41 CEST 79.5km/102km to go
Michael Boogerd
drops back to the rear of the peloton to look for his team car. The race situation
has been stable for a while, with David Canada (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Laszlo
Bodrogi (Credit Agricole), Thomas Voeckler (Bouygues Telecom), and Sylvain Calzati
(Ag2r-Prevoyance) riding 4'04 ahead of the peloton, which is being led by CSC.
Armstrong and Discovery, and Ullrich/Vinokourov and T-Mobile are the other teams
near the front.
McEwen is in last wheel now.
14:45 CEST 81.5km/100km to go
The peloton rides
through Saint-Vincent-Sur-Jard, with the usual huge crowds cheering it on. The
Tour is an amazing event in this regard, and it seems like most of the towns'
populations come out to watch it go by on the day.
The gap is up
to 4'10, gradually growing.
14:48 CEST 83.5km/98km to go
There's a bit of
an incident at the back of the peloton as Kirsipuu and one of the Euskaltel
riders comes down - Iker Camano. The latter requires a new bike, and it takes
some time. He gets the front wheel from his old bike and puts it in the new
one, and is now under way, a minute lost.
14:49 CEST
Camano is now up to speed, chasing
behind the Quick.Step car. But not for long, as it speeds up the road back to
the peloton.
14:51 CEST 85.5km/96km to go
Camano now gets
some work on his brakes from the Euskaltel car - at about 60 km/h. The brakes
seem to work and he's a lot closer to the peloton now.
14:56 CEST 90.5km/91km to go
Camano has returned
to the peloton after his crash and bike change. The four leaders are at halfway
now, with 4 minutes plus.
15:01 CEST 92.5km/89km to go
Zabriskie is now
doing a turn himself, but it's more just to get in position for the feed zone.
He finds his soigneur and grabs a musette. It's organised chaos, but everyone
seems to get their feed bags OK.
15:04 CEST
The average speed after two hours
is 47.5 km/h. That's quick, but the wind is behind them. But in the final 80
km, it will be against.
Jan Ullrich is now on the front, unpacking
his lunch. His T-Mobile teammates are all up there too.
Servais Knaven
(Quick.Step) moves up to keep the speed going. He's interested in Tom Boonen's
chances today. But Boonen hasn't been the best, as his DS Wilfried Peeters told
Sporza: "Tom had a toothache yesterday morning. The dentist has cleared
two teeth of an infection, without sedating the area, and has prescribe a five
day course of antibiotics. The pain and pressure is gone now, so it shouldn't
give any problems any more. He went to the start this morning very motivated.
He knew yesterday that he wasn't going for the win in the TT, but he did a good
ride anyway. We'll see what happens today.
"Four minutes is not too
much of a time gap. The finish today is a bit dodgy, but not as dangerous as
what people said. Every day we start with good motivation and if it doesn't
work today, it will tomorrow. We don't let ourselves get nervous by the press."
15:07 CEST 99.5km/82km to go
After the feed zone,
the gap is still 4'15 as the pace increases again. Knaven is responsible for
the pace setting now, and he has another Quick.Step rider in tow, looks like
Cretskens. This will take the pressure off CSC, but that's normal in a stage
like this. The yellow jersey's team controls the first part of the stage, then
the sprinters teams take over later. We should see Francaise des Jeux and Lotto
help out too.
15:08 CEST
In front, Thomas Voeckler is enjoying
a good day in the break. His Bouygues Telecom team is based in the Vendee region,
so obviously today they wanted to be in the break.
15:13 CEST 105.5km/76km to go
The peloton starts
to leave the coastline now, heading inland. It will then turn to the left (north)
for the final part of the stage. They're on the small roads, fairly typical
of the coastal hinterland.
15:17 CEST 108.5km/73km to go
Aha, is if on cue,
Francaise des Jeux and Davitamon-Lotto have come to the front to help Quick.Step
chase. Cretskens, Hulsmans, Knaven (Quick.Step), Van Summeren, Brandt (Davitamon-Lotto)
are all up there.
15:18 CEST
The gap falls below 4 minutes now
as the sprinters teams take up the cudgels.
15:20 CEST 111.5km/70km to go
The peloton makes
the left turn through Saint-Michel-en-l'Herm and is on its way inland. Sandy
Casar is up there for FDJ along with the Lotto/Quick.Step push.
15:24 CEST 113.5km/68km to go
Hungarian Laszlo
Bodrogi (CA) is still the virtual maillot jaune by a good 2'50, as he
rolls through for another turn in the breakaway. There are three French teams
and one Spanish team in the break, which doesn't really have much of a chance
today.
15:27 CEST 116.5km/65km to go
The leaders are
now fighting a bit of a headwind, and that's going to hurt them after 100 km
of 45-50 km/h. The peloton has three teams working in front, bringing the gap
down to 3'23.
15:31 CEST 118.5km/63km to go
the leaders ride
through the quiet town of Traize with 63 km to go, past the low stone buildings.
Well it would be quiet if it wasn't for Le Tour coming through.
Rabobank
has massed at the back of the peloton. Up front, CSC is still providing some
assistance to FDJ, Davitamon and Quick.Step.
15:33 CEST 121.5km/60km to go
Voeckler does a
turn and drops back, fighting to regain contact with the back of the break.
He does, and gets relief for about 40 seconds as the others do their turns.
It's down to 3'15.
15:36 CEST 123.5km/58km to go
The GC riders are
looking a little nervous now, with Vinokourov and Ivan Basso moving to the front
of the peloton. Vino is a little isolated, surprisingly. No T-Mobiles up there
to help him.
15:40 CEST
Cyclingnews spoke with Australian
Matt White (Cofidis) this morning, who has finally ridden a stage of the Tour
de France after his last minute DNS due to a crash in 2004. "Yeah it's just
a relief to get the ball rolling," he said. "The real race starts today. It's
a bit different in the bunch. But I didn't come here to finish, I came here
to do something. I've been racing for a long time and sure, it's the only event
I haven't done. But I'm not a neo-pro."
Was Zabriskie's win yesterday
a surprise? "No, not a surprise to me. But I don't think many people, including
Dave, would have thought he'd beat Armstrong. He had a bit of help from the
wind, but that's smart planning to put him off early."
How have you
pulled up after the Giro d'Italia. "I've done seven grand tours and five weeks
is plenty of time to recover. I haven't done anything on the motorbike but mate,
it's a three week tour, and after the team time trial I think I'll be doing
nicely."
15:41 CEST 127.5km/54km to go
Brad McGee adjusts
his jersey and makes his way back through the peloton. He didn't quite perform
as he would have liked yesterday, finishing in the top 20 rather than the top
3.
15:42 CEST
The break rides through Lucon, accompanied
by plenty of cheers from plenty of folks. There's a nice Notre Dame cathedral
here, circa 1317 - every town needs one of these.
15:45 CEST
The gap comes down to 2'55 as the
bunch rides through Lucon, CSC still lending a hand in the chase.
15:47 CEST 131.5km/50km to go
50 km to go as
the break hits the wide open fields again, trying to maintain its 2'50 lead
over the peloton. The chase is not really intense yet, but it's having an effect.
15:50 CEST 134.5km/47km to go
Vansevenant and
Zampieri are now at the rear of the peloton, collecting bidons for their teammates.
Vansevenant gives one to Leon van Bon, who is also lurking back here.
Bodrogi gets one from the team car, as well as a motivational talk from his
DS.
15:56 CEST 139.5km/42km to go
The break continues
to lose time to the four teams chasing it, and is now just 2'12 ahead, down
from a maximum of 4'30. They pass crowds of people, many who are out having
their picnics.
15:59 CEST 141.5km/40km to go
The roads are quite
narrow and there is a crash, with Gonchar, Bessy, Tombak all coming down. It's
not serious, and all are back on their bikes. A Fassa rider is further back
- he's having problems with his bike.
Tombak is now chasing on his
own.
16:00 CEST
Tombak finds a teammate, Bessy, and
the pair work together. Not much of a caravan here, so they'll have to do most
of it themselves.
16:01 CEST 142.5km/39km to go
Tombak and Bessy
are about 20 seconds off the back of the peloton, and have found a few cars
to help them. That should be enough to get back. Yes, they're in the caravan
now.
16:03 CEST 144.5km/37km to go
The gap is now
under 2'00 as the break passes through Mareuil-Sur-Lay-Dissais. Bodrogi's time
in the virtual maillot jaune is limited.
Bessy and Tombak are back
in the bunch. No sign of the Fassa rider though.
16:05 CEST 145.5km/36km to go
The bunch rides
past the Saint-Saveur church in Mareuil-sur-lay-Dissais, 1'54 behind the break.
It looks like they'll be caught between 15 and 20 km to go. Any bets on Voeckler
attacking to be the last man standing?
16:07 CEST 147km/34.5km to go
Cancellara is now
in last wheel in the peloton, but is looking for his team car. He likes the
white jersey, but wants yellow. It's just out of reach at the moment, as he'll
need a good attack to get the 1'02 back on Zabriskie. And the arriere of the
peloton is no place to make that attack.
16:09 CEST 148.5km/33km to go
Roberts and Knaven
are now in front, continuing to work hard. Mengin is also up there for FDJ.
Lance is chatting to his henchman-in-chief, George Hincapie.
Andreas
Klöden was also caught up in that fall earlier, but is back in the bunch.
16:11 CEST 150.5km/31km to go
The four leaders
are approaching the last sprint of the day at Chateau-Guibert. Bodrogi should
take it, as he's the best placed on GC. He moves towards the front.
16:13 CEST
The break speeds past crowds of green-hand
waving people, and it is indeed Laszlo Bodrogi who crosses the line first to
take the 6 points/6 seconds. Calzati and Canada are second and third.
16:15 CEST 151.5km/30km to go
The peloton passes
the sprint line in Chateau Guibert some 1'30 behind the leaders. The break starts
to work a bit harder now.
16:18 CEST
According to CSC's Bobby Julich,
his teammate David Zabriskie is going to have a great future in cycling. "As
far as I can see, Dave's it," he told Team-csc.com. "There's no one else that's
impressed me in the European scene. He's the future of American cycling. I'm
glad he's on my team and I can show him my experience. I can show him how he
can avoid my mistakes. I'm looking forward to racing with him until I'm put
out to pasture."
16:21 CEST 156.5km/25km to go
25 clicks to go
and this four man break with Bodrogi, Calzati, Cañada, and Voeckler is
fighting for survival, just a bit over a minute ahead of the peloton. They've
been out there for a good 140 km now.
16:25 CEST 159.5km/22km to go
Bodrogi, arms straight,
on the drops, is almost out of the virtual maillot jaune. He started the day
with a 59 second deficit to Dave Zabriskie, and even though he's picked up 12
bonus seconds en route, his lead on the road is exactly a minute. Once it gets
to 47 seconds, he's out of the virtual yellow.
It's still FDJ, Quick.Step,
Davitamon, and CSC chasing. That's a fairly strong force.
16:26 CEST 160.5km/21km to go
The leaders ride
through Bournezeau with really massive crowds cheering them on, but have only
39 seconds of their once 4'30 lead.
16:27 CEST 161.5km/20km to go
There is a Cat.
4 climb today: Côte du lac de la Vouraie with 16.5 km to go. The break will
want to stay away until then!
16:29 CEST 162.5km/19km to go
The leaders start
to climb a bit as the peloton goes under 20 km to go, working at a solid tempo.
26 seconds is the gap and the break doesn't look like surviving until the climb.
16:31 CEST 163.5km/18km to go
Does any one of
these four have the legs to attack for the mountain points? Yes. Calzati accelerates,
but the others are right on him, painfully. Calzati keeps working. They take
a short descent and then will start the climb.
16:31 CEST
Voeckler rides in front, looks back
and sees the peloton still sufficiently far back. 1 km of climbing, then someone
will get the mountains jersey for tomorrow.
16:33 CEST 165km/16.5km to go
Canada sits back
and then accelerates hard, but Calzati reacts with Voeckler on his wheel. Canada
stays clear then Voeckler goes after him. The Frenchman catches him before the
top and goes for the points. He gets them, and the mountains jersey. Canada
second.
16:34 CEST
The peloton crosses the summit of
the climb led by Mengin, 45 seconds back.
16:34 CEST
Calzati was third on the climb.
Bodrogi is now caught by the bunch.
16:36 CEST 167.5km/14km to go
The three remaining
leaders, Calzati, Voeckler, and Canada, are back together again with a 30 second
lead over the peloton.
Cofidis is now helping the chase.
16:37 CEST 168.5km/13km to go
The leaders have
done well to stay away up until this point, given the strength of the chase
behind. But their lead is not quite enough.
FDJ, Cofidis, Davitamon,
Quick.Step are all working. Vinokourov is still up there, always alone.
16:39 CEST 169.5km/12km to go
12 km to go and
Calzati, Cañada and Voeckler are working hard, half a minute ahead of
the peloton. It's a warm, sunny afternoon and it's been a tough day in the saddle.
The sprinters' teams have a bit of work to do yet.
16:40 CEST 170.5km/11km to go
25 seconds and
the leaders are losing ground, slowly. Francaise des Jeux is doing much of the
chasing work. Zabriskie is still well placed in the top 20. There are a lot
of corners in the finale.
16:41 CEST 171.5km/10km to go
A race director's
car and the Mavic neutral service drive past the break at 10 km to go, with
the bunch just 20 seconds behind. That's a big ask.
16:43 CEST 173km/8.5km to go
Rabobank is going
on the attack now with Kroon and Dekker attacking. Dekker is off the front but
has Da Cruz (FDJ) in tow, who won't work. Interesting tactic.
Quick.Step
is leading the peloton behind the pair.
16:44 CEST 173.5km/8km to go
Dekker and Da Cruz
are dangling in front of the peloton, but aren't going far. However, the break
is still a good 20 seconds up the road.
16:44 CEST 174.5km/7km to go
Dekker drops back
but Da Cruz stays at the front of the peloton to help work.
In front,
Canada drives the break hard, with Voeckler and Calzati on his wheel. The road
twists and turns a lot here, making it hard for the peloton to chase.
16:45 CEST 175km/6.5km to go
Tankink does a big
turn in the bunch and pegs the leaders to 10 seconds. Ullrich is well up there.
Matt White (Cofidis) and most of the Quick.Step boys move up.
16:46 CEST 175.5km/6km to go
It's over for the
break with 6 km to go. A bit of a handshake, and they're back in the peloton.
Now Discovery Channel takes over in front.
16:47 CEST 176.5km/5km to go
Discovery is well
up there, turning over with FDJ, Quick.Step, Ag2r, and Cofidis. Davitamon isn't
there yet.
16:48 CEST
Calzati is the most aggressive rider
today.
An attack - it's Walter Beneteau from Bouygues Telecom.
16:48 CEST 177.5km/4km to go
Beneteau gets about
100 metres, but will have a hard time holding off the bunch. All good publicity
for his sponsor.
16:49 CEST 178km/3.5km to go
Beneteau gives it
full gas as the FDJ train starts to form behind. Beneteau expires (figuratively)
and goes towards the back of the bunch.
16:50 CEST 178.5km/3km to go
Da Cruz does a big
turn for Francaise des Jeux as the Davitamon train brings up McEwen. It's still
the white jerseys of FDJ controlling. Now Gilbert in front.
16:51 CEST 179.2km/2.3km to go
Boonen moves up
as Zaballa attacks for Saunier Durval with 2.5 km to go. Interesting move. He
keeps looking back.
16:51 CEST 179.5km/2km to go
The Liquigas boys
for Pagliarini come up and challenge FDJ, as Zaballa blows up.
16:52 CEST 180.5km/1km to go
It's now Liquigas
with 2 km to go, then FDJ for Eisel and Cooke. Quick.Step moves Boonen up. McEwen
is back a bit.
16:52 CEST
Vansevenant leads with 1 km to go
but it's Liquigas and FDJ taking over. Now Bäckstedt hammers with 800m, then
Trenti leads for Quick.Step. Kirsipuu is right there. McEWen starts to move
up on the right...
16:53 CEST 181.5km/0km to go
It's McEwen versus
Boonen and Boonen gets it!!!! Hushovd came up at the last moment for second.
16:56 CEST
Boonen wins by over a bike length
from Hushovd, Boonen, O'Grady, and Pagliarini in the first bunch sprint of this
year's Tour. Excellent sprint by the Belgian with a toothache.
Zabriskie
keeps the yellow, no changes to the GC except that Bodrogi is now up to third
overall at 47 seconds.
17:01 CEST
There was a crash in the final kilometre
involving an Ag2r rider, who seemed to flip over but ended up on his feet, so
that's OK.
In the other classifications, Cancellara should keep the
white jersey, Boonen will get the points, and Voeckler the mountains. CSC will
be leading the teams classification.
That's all from us from stage
2 - check back a bit later for our full results, report, photos, news, interviews,
and more...
Results
Provisional 1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step 3.51.31 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 5 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Liquigas-Bianchi 6 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 7 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 8 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 9 Baden Cooke (Aus) Française Des Jeux 10 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth General classification after stage 2 1 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 4.12.22 2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 0.02 3 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 0.47 4 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 0.53 5 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.57 6 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.02 7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo 8 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04 9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1.05 10 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.06
