Second stage of the Irish race and this sprint might be intersted by the yesteraday's one as there's a little uphill section right before the finish. Swift is again the main favourite as he is also a pretty good puncheur
Just 3 escapes today: Caruso, Sawada and Te Brake. As he was the best climber was first on the only climb of the day (sorry, no picture and I have no idea was the ss was not taken). Still Cassidy will keep the KoM jersey for at least another day
As soon as the breakaway become a threat, as they had even more than 8 minutes advantage, the leader's team took the lead of the pack to bring the escapes back
After only a few kilometres they only had a half of that advantage left as 100% ME are now helped by the other teams as well
Caruso was really the strongest rider in the breakaway and he was the last one to be caught, with 17 km to go.
Lego, Ikea, EON Ruhrgas and Vespa are trying to organize themselves there but it seems hard for any of them to make the difference
The yellow jersey, Ben Swift, seems to have problems finding the best position there, as well as Castenada, Mohs and Abdallah
Rowe is leading the sprint as they reach the uphill section. But none of his team - mates are behind him to take advantage of that
But Renshaw and Delage are there, in the perfect positions
Renshaw takes the lead with Delage behind him, while Rowe is starting to lose positions at the moment
Right before the final kilometre Delage made what could be the decisive move and took the lead
Renshaw seems to be dead now as he doesn't seem able to keep it up anymore
Last corner and Delage doesn't look too good anymore as his team - mate, De Fauw and Trusov are coming really fast
Still the French rider managed to stay in front to take the stage win. Trusov was second, while De Fauw brought an 1 - 3 for EON Ruhrgas
Even though he was just 10th today, Swift keeps they yellow jersey for tomorrow's stage
Stage
1
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
3h44'25
2
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
4
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
5
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
6
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
8
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
9
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
10
Ben Swift
100% ME
s.t.
11
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
12
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
13
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
14
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
15
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
16
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
17
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
18
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
19
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
20
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
21
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
22
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
23
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
24
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
25
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
s.t.
26
Martin Elmiger
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
27
Jonas Ljungblad
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
28
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
29
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
30
Timothy Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
31
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
s.t.
32
Thomas Murray
100% ME
s.t.
33
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
34
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
35
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
36
Danilo Kupfernagel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
37
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
38
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
39
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
40
Ronald Harvey
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
41
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
42
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
43
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
44
Hubert Dupont
AON Global
s.t.
45
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
46
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
47
Muradjan Khalmuratov
AON Global
s.t.
48
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
49
Ciaran Kelly
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
50
Ruggero Marzoli
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
51
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
52
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
53
Shaun Lewis
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
54
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
55
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
56
Matías Médici
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
57
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
s.t.
58
Anthony Charteau
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
59
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
60
Sergiu Cioban
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
61
Esteban Mardones
AON Global
s.t.
62
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
s.t.
63
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
64
Julian David Muñoz Giraldo
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
65
Richard Ochoa Quintero
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
66
Ciaran Power
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
67
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
s.t.
68
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
s.t.
69
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
s.t.
70
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
71
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
72
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
s.t.
73
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
s.t.
74
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
75
George Hincapie
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
76
Michael Creed
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
77
Keir Plaice
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
78
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
79
Matthew Crane
Team Starbucks
s.t.
80
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
81
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
82
Gianni Meersman
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
83
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
84
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
85
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
86
Fabio Ciccarese
Team Starbucks
s.t.
87
Charles Dionne
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
88
Lucas Schädlich
IrnBru - RBS
+ 1'43
89
Kevin Barclay
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
90
Steven Burke
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
91
Richard Cleaver
100% ME
+ 3'35
92
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
93
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
s.t.
94
Matt Booth
100% ME
s.t.
95
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
Overall
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
6h54'40
2
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
3
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 8
4
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
5
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
+ 12
6
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
7
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 20
8
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
10
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
11
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
12
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
13
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
14
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
15
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
16
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
17
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
18
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
19
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
20
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
21
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
22
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
23
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
24
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
25
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
Points
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
51
2
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
46
3
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
46
4
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
40
5
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
39
6
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
39
7
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
35
8
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
35
9
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
34
10
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
33
Mountain
1
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
17
2
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
10
3
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
10
4
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
10
5
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
8
6
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
7
7
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
6
8
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
5
9
Ruggero Marzoli
EON Ruhrgas
3
10
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
1
Young
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
6h54'40
2
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
+ 0
3
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
+ 8
4
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 8
5
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty