I put this sentence right into my HQ post, right at the start.

Very steady and slow start from the team green (Caja Rural) - my hope that they go after the climbs have been dented somewhat.

RMM was low down in the sprint and with those gaps I think the break guys are going to be high up in the overall come the end.

Meh. First start of the season. First breakaway win. Come on PCM :/

Didn't send a strong enough rider into the breakaway. Kaha and the other sprinters were struggling today, but I'm sure we'll see some intense fights next stage. Gratz to Hägg for yet another show from the break

The Cofidis team seem a bit overawed by the occasion with our best rider coming home in 66th , but at least Rudy Molard got a mention so not totally anonymous.

I know I'm late but I've found the Laos jersey for Khampse Khamphan very very deep in my message inbox (page 19). can it be added to the jersey pack and are people that already downloaded the jersey pack add this one to the Europcar folder?

Great to see it starting, San luis is about to begin as well (well you know, couple of days or so ).

Where were the boys

Since I'm rather well connected with the jersey maker I already found it and put it in the folder

Stage 2 in Gabon has just finished and what a great stage it was, report coming in an hour or so.

Sounds excellent I don't think we care if the pace is high

Well I certainly won't discourage it

MVH #1

Great to hear that the second stage is already under way

Not an awful first stage.

Hello and welcome. We are in Yaounde for stage 2 of La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. The stage is a 6 lap circuit around the city. It is expected to be a bunch sprint, but those hills are pretty steep.




Jarrier (Bretagne) is the first one to try and get a break started. He is followed by Kaas (AG2R), Bilbao (Euskaltel), Quintero (Colombia), Maaskant (Lotto), Kochetkov (RusVelo), Ochoa (Androni), Boem (Bardiani) and Murphy (UnitedHealthcare). It remains to be seen if the peloton allows these 9 riders to go.
Sky does not want such a big breakaway and they are trying to reel them back in.




Bilbao, Quintero, Maaskant, Kaas and Murphy try to thin out the amount of riders in the break, but the others come back as we complete the first lap. They got a 45 second lead on the peloton, where MTN and Movistar have joined Sky in the chase.




Everything is back together. Maaskant goes again and wins the KoM sprint. Zabel and Camano get 2nd and 3rd as no other riders are interested in the points.

KoM 1:
1. Maaskant (Lotto) - 5 points
2. Zabel (NetApp) - 3 points
3. Camano (NetApp) - 1 point




Boev (RusVelo) and Morajko (CCC) have bridged the gap to Maaskant and at the end of the 2nd lap they got a lead of 2 and a half minute over the peloton, where Hagg has given orders to his teammates to slow down.




Boev is the first to kick, but Morajko counters and easily goes past him to get 1st on the KoM sprint. Maaskant crosses the line in 3rd. The peloton follows at 4 and a half minute. Movistar, for Calzone, has taken over the chase.

KoM 2:
1. Morajko (CCC) - 5 points
2. Boev (RusVelo) - 3 points
3. Maaskant (Lotto) - 1 point




None of the 3 leaders is interested in the sprint. Maaskant crosses the line first, in front of Morajko and Boev. The peloton, being led by NetApp and Movistar, follows at 3 minutes.

Sprint 1:
1. Maaskant (Lotto) - 6 points
2. Morajko (CCC) - 4 points
3. Boev (RusVelo) - 2 points




Now it is Morajko that kicks first for the KoM points and this time Boev counters him. Morajko gets 2nd, while Maaskant is far back in 3rd. The peloton slows down on the hill and follows at almost 4 minutes. It will be a tight one, though Movistar digs deep again after the hill.

KoM 3:
1. Boev (RusVelo) - 5 points
2. Morajko (CCC) - 3 points
3. Maaskant (Lotto) - 1 point



This time the intermediate sprint is contested and Boev beats Morajko to the line. The judges are mistaken though, as it was clearly Morajko that crossed the line first. They are lucky there are no pictures of this failure. Maaskant, who failed to come back after the KoM sprint, crosses the line in 3rd, 1'23 after the 2 leaders. 40 seconds later the peloton reaches the sprint.

Sprint 2:
1. Boev (RusVelo) - 6 points
2. Morajko (CCC) - 4 points
3. Maaskant (Lotto) - 2 points



Maaskant is caught by the peloton. The 2 leaders are still 1'43 away.





At the start of the last lap, a lot is happening. The leaders still have a minute lead.
However, the interesting stuff is happening in the peloton. Movistar is chasing really hard and have split the group. A 41 man group remains, with over 100 riders being caught out and have to make up a minute now.


There are a lot of favourites off the back. The most notable names are:
Wellens (Lotto)
Gasparotto (Astana)
Kaha (Belkin)
Schneider (CCC)
Nocentini, Alinejad (Champion System)
Meintjes, Abundi (MTN)
Alaphilippe (Cofidis)




The 2 leaders are caught and several riders are having trouble following the insane pace of Movistar's Kusnezov. The now 39 lead group have a gap of 2 and a half minute over the peloton.




Hot favourite of today, Calzone, tests his legs at the last intermediate sprint. Team-mates Rojas and Lobato cross the line next. The 113 rider peloton is over 4 minutes behind.

Sprint 3:
1. Calzone (Movistar) - 6 points
2. Rojas (Movistar) - 4 points
3. Lobato (Movistar) - 2 points




Movistar pushes the lead group to the limit over the last hill and gets rid of 12 more riders. Most notable names are Appollonio (AG2R), Harrini (Colombia) and Arndt (NetApp). They are back 51 seconds.




Rojas is pushing the group for the sprint, while the GC contenders are at the back gasping for air. The riders are all over the place at the moment.




Everything is more organised now and only Movistar has enough riders to create some sort of sprint train.
Here is an overview of the sprint preparation.

		Dumoulin
Lobato	Rojas
	Cristobal
	Calzone	Colbrelli
	Bonilla
	Martinez	Verboven
	Weschenbach
		Roelandts
		Trentin

Bonilla is the first to start the sprint. He is hoping to surprise the stronger sprinters here. Roelandts is at the front, but he is fading slowly.




Bonilla is in the lead, but Calzone, Weschenbach and Martinez are right behind him.




Bonilla runs out of energy and Weschenbach takes over the lead. Calzone does not look good there. Did Movistar push to hard on the last hill or did he spend to much energy at the intermediate sprint?




And Weschenbach is the winner of todays incredible stage. Great sprint from the young guy, who has to make Sky forget about Hanzen. Martinez gets 2nd and Bonilla holds on for 3rd. Cristobal and Calzone just miss out on the podium. This will be a disappointment for Calzone after all the hard work that his team did for him today.


For whatever it's worth, 7 minutes later Abundi beats Kaha and Alinejad for the 38th place.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	2h33'39
2	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	s.t.
3	Carlos Bonilla	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
4	Jorge Cristobal Riquelme	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5	Carlo Calzone	Movistar Team	s.t.
6	Samuel Dumoulin	AG2R La Mondiale	s.t.
7	Jürgen Roelandts	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
8	Sonny Colbrelli	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	s.t.
9	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	s.t.
10	Sergio Henao	Sky Procycling	s.t.

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	6h14'04
2	John-Lee Augustyn	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 12
3	Delio Fernández	Team Champion System	+ 1'27
4	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	+ 4'05
5	Ricardo Martinez Machado	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	+ 4'13
6	Carlos Bonilla	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 4'17
7	Carlo Calzone	Movistar Team	+ 4'19
8	Juan José Lobato	Movistar Team	+ 4'21
9	José Joaquín Rojas	Movistar Team	+ 4'23
10	Scott Thwaites	Sky Procycling	+ 4'25

Rank	Name	Team	Points	General
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	0	37
2	Benedikt Weschenbach	Sky Procycling	25	35
3	John-Lee Augustyn	MTN - Qhubeka	0	28

Rank	Name	Team	Mountain	General
1	Heimdal Hägg	Team NetApp - Endura	0	8
2	John-Lee Augustyn	MTN - Qhubeka	0	8
3	Jacek Morajko	CCC Polsat - Polkowice	8	8

Young rider: Heimdal Hagg
Team: Movistar

Interesting stage, but come on Belkin, pay attention! I can understand Kaha being dropped, but Slagter and Martens?

Wow, great report and such a good race on a flat stage. Congrats Benedikt

YEAH! Weschenbach

FINALLY I WON THE BATTLE FOR GERMANY!
good Benedikt. very good.