The second stage should also be one for the sprinters even though there’s a little hill with 14 km before the finish. Ciolek, Forster, Van Avermaet and Swift are again rated as the big favorites but neither of them was even close to win yesterday, when Van Stayen got the win and the yellow jersey in front of Trusov and Friedman
There were only 2 riders in today’s breakaway and they were both Russians: Ivanov from Molteni and Komkov from Wii
Ivanov is clearly the stronger than his compatriot and takes the first intermediate sprint
Behind them a group of 21 riders, mostly sprinters got away from the pack, as there are still a some points and 2 bonification seconds for the rider that will get the third place at this intermediate sprint
After another great lead - out from his team – mate, Traksel, Van Stayen had no problems getting the third spot and the bonification seconds there
Ivanov looks like he doesn’t want to miss a thing today and he is also first at the top of the first climb of the day
Bertogliati, Rast and Tankink attacked for the last KoM points there, which we were won by the Nokia Nike rider
Ivanov took the intermediate sprint of the day but he was alone there as Komkov cracked and lost the contact with him
Behind them we had again a battle between the sprinters. And this time it was Ciolek who had the perfect lead – out from Baumann to take the third place in front of Cooper
Komkov lost in a few kilometers over 1 minute to Ivanov. It’s clearly that he won’t be able to come back
The pack lead by Lego, Jack Wolfskin and NOS, is coming really fast leaving Ivanov only an advantage of 3 minutes and a half with 70 kilometers before the finish
Still Ivanov hanged on to win the second climb of the day, which should secure him the KoM jersey for tomorrow and they day after that as well as tomorrow’s stage is a time – trial with no categorized climbs on the route
Komkov got the second place there but the pack is only a few seconds behind him
Again he had some attacks from the pack and again Bertogliati got the last KoM points
On the downhill what was expected happened and Komkov was caught
2 riders that could have got a chance at a good result tomorrow punctured somewhere around 50 kilometers before the finish. They were Ericsson and Perry. With the pack’s fast pace it will be impossible to get back
5 kilometers before the last intermediate sprint of the day the preparations for the sprint started in the pack as now there are 2 places to fight for. The first move was made by Traksel, with Van Stayen right behind him
1 kilometer before the sprint Ivanov was caught but the 2 Jack Wolfskin riders weren’t even close to the front, with Wiggle, Lego and 100% Me in the best positions now
Ciolek won the sprint in front of Blythe and Markov, which means that Ciolek won the most bonification seconds today from the big sprinters
On the last climb of the day Bertogliati attacked one more time and took the ‘win’ in front of Rast and Tankink
But no one was able to make the difference there and we are heading to a mass sprint. Wiggle and 100% Me made the first moves, while the leader, Van Stayen seems to be in a little bit of trouble as his lead – out man is caught somewhere at the back of the pack
Still Van Stayen managed to get in the splipstream of Blythe and Swift, while Trusov isn’t able to come even close to Rowe’s wheel, who is the fastest lead – out man at the moment
3 kilometers before the finish the 100% Me train is gone as well as any other train. Duran is leading, followed by Euser, while Rowe is still all by himself in the third position
When the sprint starts Euser takes the lead, with Rowe, Duran, Van Garderen and Barclay behind him
It looks like it will be between Euser, Van Garderen and Barclay for today’s win but neither of them are great sprinters
1.3 kilometers before the finish Van Garderen takes the lead but Euser’s team – mate, Galdos, is coming very fast from behind bringing Swift and Van Stayen with him
Inside the last kilometer Euser is gone and Van Garderen is almost caught by Galdos and Swift
Swift seems to be the fastest in the last meters and he takes the lead from Van Garderen
And yes, Swift is today’s winner with Galdos 2nd, Van Garderen just third. The yellow jersey wearer, Van Stayen finished fourth but he gets to keep the jersey for the 2 bonification seconds won at the first intermediate sprint
