Stage 2 is Round 2 for the sprinters. Cavendish, Haedo, Mohs and co will do battle once again.
A break of 14 goes clear.
Didier
Corti
Longo Borghini
Matthews
Cooper
Murphy
Aistrup
Signego
Gajek
Skuijns
Haugard
Hoste
Hiratsuka
Thwaites
And at the first KoM of the race, the order is:
Hiratsuka
Cooper
Murphy
The break holds a minute gap, but are chased down after Kirsch and
Shikai try to join them.
Still no break is clear by the intermediate sprint of the day then, so the sprinters did battle. Mohs winning from Cavendish and Haedo
The 2nd KoM follows soon after. Hiratsuka is nowhere to be seen, so he will have to share the KoM lead with whoever wins the hill - and only one person is interested. Petrie-Armstrong looking to add to his jersey collection, already being the best young rider.
2nd is Ben Nasser, and Williams 3rd.
And so we skip to 9km to go. Pokerstars are setting things up.
[table=100%]
Clement
Degenkolb
Ben Nasser
Mohs
Cavendish
Haedo
Terpstra
Chicchi
Vaitkus
Cappelle
Van Loocke
Drujon
Brandle
Cooke
Rizza
Markov
Bonnet
Manan
Gatto
Tolleson
Pokerstars trying to master the leadout once again, with Mohs having had to go too soon yesterday. But the manpower is weaker today, Terpstra being unable to help out forces Clement to do a long turn, and he takes the peloton under 5km to go
Clement is forced to go all the way to 3km to go - a stint of at least 6km. Theres no rival sprint train, but it means Pokerstars cant build the pace as high as they would like to really benefit from leading out. Degenkolb immediately jumps into action.
Cavendish has Mohs wheel, ahead of Haedo and Chicchi. Vaitkus was on Chicchi's wheel but has now decided thats not a wheel he wants, and is moving forwards - with Drujon, Rizza and Van Loocke following him.
Its bad news for Pokerstars as Mohs launches early with 2km to go. He couldnt win launching at 1km to go, now he is going from twice as far out! Its almost as if he is leading out Cavendish...
Behind Haedo, Vaitkus has expertly managed to displace Chicchi, and take up Haedo's wheel. Haedo himself is now looking to make an early move and catch Cavendish out, with approximately 1.6km to go. Rizza has also launched, which interests Van Loocke and Cooke
1300 metres to go and Haedo storms into the lead - with Rizza also now alongside Mohs. Cavendish in danger of getting swamped aswell as Vaitkus, Chicchi and Drujon follow Haedo's acceleration
Mohs and Cavendish are completely blown away as Haedo and Rizza lead a number of sprinters away from them - including Gatto, who has got himself into the mix. But now Vaitkus makes his move, and Chicchi is struggling to keep up
Vaitkus pulls away Haedo but Drujon has matched and even exceeded the Lithuanian - Vaitkus still leads though, with Drujon having had to clear the obstacle of Chicchi first. They now go head to head to the line
Victory for Tomas Vaitkus!!
He doesnt always deliver in bunch sprints, but today he has done so in style. He fought hard for the perfect position and when he went, he could not be stopped - despite Drujon's best efforts. Haedo takes 3rd, he comfortably beats his expected rivals Cavendish and Mohs, but didnt count on the speed of those behind him.
Chicchi, Cooke, Rizza, Gatto and Van Loocke complete the Top 8.
Cavendish is 10th, Mohs way down in 20th. Bonus seconds from the intermediate sprints do keep Cavendish in the race lead though, ahead of Haedo and Vaitkus. Haedo takes the points jersey lead though - 1 point ahead of both Cavendish and Vaitkus.
