Stage 2
Many riders fear the 2nd stage, as it is short (136km) and many height metres (3058). The riders leave Millau and ride over 4 climbs to Ganges in the Languedoc. The finish is at the summit of the Puech Pointu, a 3.9km climb at an average gradient of 8.7%.
134km to go
And the award of the first attacker in this centennial Tour goes to...... David Loosli from the Lampre-team! Together with Androni's Luca Barla, he tries to create an early breakaway.
127km to go
The peloton sets an incrediby high pace while ascending the Millau Viaduct and it breaks in many pieces. Of course, Loosli and Barla get caught, and many groups are riding all over the route. For sure, some riders will be in trouble today with the time limit.
65km to go
The pace drops a bit and 8 riders attack out of the peloton. Nick Nuyens (Saxo) is the first to arrive at the summit of the Col de la Serreyrede, followed by Loosli, Roberto Ferrari (Androni), Aurélien Duval (Europcar), Johan Vansummeren (Garmin), Darren Lapthorne (Qantas), Aurélien Passeron (Cofisis) and Julien Simon (Saur). The peloton follows at 5'33 and is about to increase the pace again.
33km to go
Lapthorne takes the most points at the 3rd climb of the day, the Col de Peyrefiche, Nuyens and Loosli follow him. But with the peloton only 2'33 behind them, they won't make it!
17km to go
While climbing Le Puech (5.0km at 7.1%), Nick Nuyens is the only rider to remain in front of the peloton. At this moment, 2km before the summit, Fränk Schleck is the first to attack out of the peloton. He has to make up for a lot of time (4'08).
15km to go
Schleck is the first one to crest the summit of Le Puech. The peloton follows at '51, with the Radio Shack boys doing the pace. The peloton explodes and many riders get dropped.
12km to go
In the descend, we see a strange counter attack by Jurgen Van den Broeck. Why waste his energy now, and not waiting for the final climb, letting the Shackies do the work?
10km to go
But then the camera picks up 1 very important rider that is riding behind the peloton:
Robert Gesink! What has happened to the Dutch climber? Nothing, a bad day with bad legs and he simply couldn't follow the pace of the first group in the previous climb, so he rides 1'31 behind the peloton.
5km to go
The Radio Shack-train catches Schleck and Van den Broeck, and try to bring their leaders Nibali and Wiggins in a good position to the foot of the last climb. We try to slow things down, so
Gesink can close the gap a bit. He's 1'13 behind now.
4km to go
The final climb starts with 3.9km to go. These kilometres are ascending with an average gradient of 8.7%.
Jelle Vanendert does a fantastic job and brings
Andy Schleck to the leading position.
1500m to go
The pace set by
Vanendert is that high, nobody even dares to attack. Groups of riders are everywhere ver the road. Then with 1500m to go,
Andy Schleck launches his attack. Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador are '11 behind and a group with Fuglsang, Kern, Van den Broeck, Brajkovic and Fränk Schleck follows at '28.
Gesink is almost 2 minutes behind, but is passing a lot of opponents.
Finish
What a great ride by
Andy Schleck! The Luxembourg champion is way stronger than his opponents and wins the 2nd stage of the Tour de France.
Nibali takes the 2nd place beating Contador and Van den Broeck in the sprint at '35.
Jelle Vanendert finishes in 5th at '51, just in front of Fränk Schleck.
1'46 behind his winning team mate,
Robert Gesink crosses the finish line in 23rd place. He finishes in a group with riders as Cadel Evans, Roman Kreuziger, Bradley Wiggins and Fabian Cancellara, who keeps the maillot jaune by a margin of 11 seconds.
A big shock for 25 riders, as the finish outside the time limit, more than 30 minutes behind the winner. Most known riders among them are Greg van Avermaet, Sebastian Langeveld, JJ Haedo, Greg Henderson, Bernie Eisel and ...... Mark Cavendish!! No sprint wins for the Manx Missile this year!
Results
| 1 | Andy Schleck | Monster Energy - Subway | 3h58'08 |
| 2 | Vincenzo Nibali | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 35 |
| 3 | Alberto Contador | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 4 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 5 | Jelle Vanendert | Monster Energy - Subway | + 51 |
| 6 | Fränk Schleck | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 7 | Christophe Kern | Team Europcar | + 1'14 |
| 8 | Jakob Fuglsang | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 9 | Janez Brajkovic | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 1'35 |
| 10 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | s.t. |
Spoiler
| 11 | Ivan Basso | Sky ProCycling | + 1'46 |
| 12 | Steven Kruijswijk | Qantas Airways | s.t. |
| 13 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Barracuda | s.t. |
| 14 | Philippe Gilbert | Lotto - Belisol | s.t. |
| 15 | Peter Velits | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 16 | Bradley Wiggins | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 17 | Pierre Rolland | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 18 | Cadel Evans | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 19 | Andreas Klöden | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 20 | Fabio Duarte | Pro Team Astana | s.t. |
| 21 | John Gadret | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 22 | Roman Kreuziger | Pro Team Astana | s.t. |
| 23 | Robert Gesink | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 24 | Jens Voigt | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 25 | Ben Hermans | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 26 | Fabian Cancellara | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 27 | Carlos Barredo | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 28 | Franco Pellizotti | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 29 | Vasil Kiryienka | Pro Team Astana | s.t. |
| 30 | Sandy Casar | FDJ | s.t. |
| 31 | Brice Feillu | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 32 | Simon Gerrans | Qantas Airways | s.t. |
| 33 | Julien El Fares | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 34 | Matthew Busche | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 35 | David Moncoutié | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | + 3'26 |
| 36 | Rodrigo GarcÃa | Radio Shack - Nissan | s.t. |
| 37 | Rob Ruijgh | Monster Energy - Subway | + 3'44 |
| 38 | Rein Taaramäe | Sony Ericsson | s.t. |
| 39 | Beñat Intxausti | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 40 | José Serpa | Pro Team Astana | s.t. |
| 41 | Amaël Moinard | BMC Racing Team | + 4'01 |
| 42 | Thomas Dekker | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 43 | Samuel Dumoulin | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 44 | Stefan Schumacher | Sony Ericsson | s.t. |
| 45 | Geraint Thomas | Qantas Airways | s.t. |
| 46 | Richie Porte | Saxo Bank SunGard | + 4'29 |
| 47 | Kevin Seeldraeyers | Sony Ericsson | + 5'25 |
| 48 | Rigoberto Urán | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 49 | Simon Spilak | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 50 | Nick Nuyens | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 51 | Nicolas Roche | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 52 | José JoaquÃn Rojas | Garmin - Barracuda | s.t. |
| 53 | Tom Stubbe | Lotto - Belisol | + 7'07 |
| 54 | Peter Sagan | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 55 | Roberto Ferrari | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 56 | Chris Froome | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 57 | Sylvain Chavanel | Garmin - Barracuda | + 8'00 |
| 58 | Aurélien Passeron | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 59 | David Loosli | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 60 | Michael Rogers | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 61 | Vladimir Karpets | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 62 | Johann Tschopp | BMC Racing Team | + 8'36 |
| 63 | Jérôme Pineau | Saur - Sojasun | + 8'50 |
| 64 | Yoann Le Boulanger | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | + 9'14 |
| 65 | Lars Ytting Bak | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 66 | Laurent Lefèvre | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 67 | Juan José Oroz | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 68 | Tanel Kangert | Pro Team Astana | s.t. |
| 69 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 70 | Andrey Amador | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 71 | Kanstantsin Siutsou | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 72 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Lotto - Belisol | s.t. |
| 73 | Anders Lund | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 74 | Darren Lapthorne | Qantas Airways | s.t. |
| 75 | Johan Vansummeren | Garmin - Barracuda | + 10'10 |
| 76 | Romain Bardet | FDJ | s.t. |
| 77 | Heinrich Haussler | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 78 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 10'47 |
| 79 | Remmert Wielinga | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 80 | Matti Breschel | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 81 | Cristiano Salerno | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 82 | Lars Boom | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 12'24 |
| 83 | Julien Simon | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 84 | Jesús Herrada | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 85 | Mikaël Chérel | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 86 | Aitor Pérez Arrieta | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 87 | Aurélien Duval | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 88 | Pierre Cazaux | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 89 | Alessandro Ballan | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 90 | Roman Klimov | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 91 | Dirk Bellemakers | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 92 | Yohan Offredo | FDJ | s.t. |
| 93 | Björn Leukemans | Sony Ericsson | s.t. |
| 94 | Julien Mazet | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 95 | Michel Kreder | Garmin - Barracuda | s.t. |
| 96 | Maxime Méderel | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 97 | Murilo Fischer | Sony Ericsson | s.t. |
| 98 | Yannick Talabardon | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 99 | Nicolas Hartmann | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 100 | Tyler Farrar | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 101 | Thor Hushovd | Lotto - Belisol | s.t. |
| 102 | Eduard Prades | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 103 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 104 | Anthony Ravard | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | s.t. |
| 105 | Blel Kadri | AG2R La Mondiale | + 14'05 |
| 106 | Maxime Monfort | Lotto - Belisol | s.t. |
| 107 | Kevin De Weert | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 108 | Dimitri Champion | AG2R La Mondiale | + 15'42 |
| 109 | Gianni Meersman | FDJ | s.t. |
| 110 | Alexandre Botcharov | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 111 | Niki Terpstra | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 112 | Omar Fraile | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 113 | Juan Manuel Gárate | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 114 | Andrea Moletta | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 115 | Geoffroy Lequatre | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 116 | David Tanner | Saxo Bank SunGard | + 16'15 |
| 117 | Sergey Firsanov | Katusha Team | + 16'43 |
| 118 | Lucas Sebastián Haedo | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 119 | Tomas Vaitkus | Qantas Airways | s.t. |
| 120 | Francisco José Ventoso | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 121 | Mathieu Perget | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 122 | Alessandro Petacchi | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 123 | Antonio D'Aniello | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 124 | Jean-Eudes Demaret | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 125 | Tony Gallopin | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 126 | Manuel Quinziato | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 127 | Nico Sijmens | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | s.t. |
| 128 | Juan Antonio Flecha | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 129 | Sébastien Turgot | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 130 | Francesco Gavazzi | Rabobank Cycling Team | + 17'45 |
| 131 | Lieuwe Westra | Monster Energy - Subway | s.t. |
| 132 | Tom Boonen | Sony Ericsson | + 18'18 |
| 133 | Benoît Vaugrenard | FDJ | s.t. |
| 134 | Mitchell Docker | Qantas Airways | + 19'19 |
| 135 | George Hincapie | BMC Racing Team | + 19'43 |
| 136 | Rubén Plaza | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 137 | Staf Scheirlinckx | Lotto - Belisol | + 20'14 |
| 138 | Steve Chainel | FDJ | s.t. |
| 139 | Filippo Pozzato | Katusha Team | + 20'38 |
| 140 | Marko Kump | Rabobank Cycling Team | s.t. |
| 141 | Lloyd Mondory | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 142 | Balint Szeghalmi | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 143 | Davide Appollonio | Sky ProCycling | s.t. |
| 144 | Americo Novembrini | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 145 | Óscar Freire | Movistar Team | + 21'12 |
| 146 | Luca Barla | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 147 | Giairo Ermeti | Androni Giocattoli | s.t. |
| 148 | Jérémie Galland | Saur - Sojasun | + 22'08 |
| 149 | Pieter Serry | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | + 22'53 |
| 150 | Javier Francisco Aramendia | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 23'06 |
| 151 | Martin Elmiger | BMC Racing Team | s.t. |
| 152 | Assan Bazayev | Pro Team Astana | + 23'29 |
| 153 | Vincent Jérôme | Team Europcar | + 23'41 |
| 154 | Perrig Quemeneur | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 155 | Grégory Rast | Team Europcar | s.t. |
| 156 | Julien Bérard | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. |
| 157 | Marcos GarcÃa | Euskaltel - Euskadi | s.t. |
| 158 | Sergio Hernandez | Sony Ericsson | s.t. |
| 159 | Martin Kohler | BMC Racing Team | + 24'18 |
| 160 | Maarten Neyens | Lotto - Belisol | + 24'58 |
| 161 | Stéphane Poulhiès | Garmin - Barracuda | s.t. |
| 162 | Carlos Oyarzun | Movistar Team | s.t. |
| 163 | Sergey Kolesnikov | Katusha Team | + 26'12 |
| 164 | Grega Bole | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 165 | Frederique Robert | Lotto - Belisol | + 26'27 |
| 166 | Michael Friedman | Saxo Bank SunGard | s.t. |
| 167 | Rony Martias | Saur - Sojasun | + 28'11 |
| 168 | Rasmus Quaade | Sony Ericsson | + 30'34 |
| 169 | Vitali Kondrut | Lampre - Generali | s.t. |
| 170 | Maxime Vantomme | Katusha Team | s.t. |
| 171 | Christophe Laborie | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 172 | Cyril Lemoine | Saur - Sojasun | s.t. |
| 173 | Guillaume Blot | FDJ | s.t. |
GC
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | Saxo Bank SunGard | 5h00'12 |
| 2 | Alberto Contador | Movistar Team | + 11 |
| 3 | Jakob Fuglsang | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 38 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 1'09 |
| 5 | Bradley Wiggins | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 1'20 |
| 6 | Andy Schleck | Monster Energy - Subway | + 1'44 |
| 7 | Christophe Kern | Team Europcar | + 1'48 |
| 8 | Andreas Klöden | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 2'12 |
| 9 | Robert Gesink | Monster Energy - Subway | + 2'28 |
| 10 | Philippe Gilbert | Lotto - Belisol | + 2'35 |
Spoiler
| 11 | Jurgen Van den Broeck | BMC Racing Team | + 2'39 |
| 12 | Vasil Kiryienka | Pro Team Astana | + 2'41 |
| 13 | Janez Brajkovic | Radio Shack - Nissan | + 2'48 |
| 14 | Peter Velits | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | + 3'01 |
| 15 | Roman Kreuziger | Pro Team Astana | + 3'03 |
| 16 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Barracuda | + 3'12 |
| 17 | Fränk Schleck | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | + 3'13 |
| 18 | Geraint Thomas | Qantas Airways | + 3'17 |
| 19 | Sandy Casar | FDJ | + 3'19 |
| 20 | Cadel Evans | Katusha Team | + 3'22 |
Points
| 1 | Jakob Fuglsang | Radio Shack - Nissan | 30 |
| 2 | Alberto Contador | Movistar Team | 26 |
| 3 | Fabian Cancellara | Saxo Bank SunGard | 25 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Nibali | Radio Shack - Nissan | 22 |
| 5 | Andy Schleck | Monster Energy - Subway | 20 |
KOTM
| 1 | Nick Nuyens | Saxo Bank SunGard | 8 |
| 2 | Fränk Schleck | Omega Pharma - Quick·Step | 5 |
| 3 | Darren Lapthorne | Qantas Airways | 5 |
| 4 | David Loosli | Lampre - Generali | 5 |
| 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Radio Shack - Nissan | 3 |
U25
| 1 | Peter Sagan | Monster Energy - Subway | 5h09'29 |
| 2 | Romain Bardet | FDJ | + 4'27 |
| 3 | Romain Sicard | Euskaltel - Euskadi | + 4'30 |
| 4 | Jesús Herrada | Movistar Team | + 4'59 |
| 5 | Aurélien Duval | Team Europcar | + 6'53 |
Teams
1 Radio Shack - Nissan 15h03'24
2
Monster Energy - Subway + 2'33
3 Omega Pharma - Quick·Step + 7'32
4 Pro Team Astana + 7'45
5 Qantas Airways + 8'03
Today's winner
Word from the DS
Wow, what a mixed feelings.... First, Andy Schleck did an incredible job taking the stage win and bringing himself back in the race from yellow. Secondly, Jelle Vanendert was amazing. Absolutely amazing.
But Robert Gesink looses 1'46 to Andy and, probably more important, 1'11 to Contador and Nibali. He simply hadn't got the legs today. We know his form isn't at his best right now, but this wasn't calculated..... Now, 3 flat stages before the first mountain stage to the Col de la Core.