After the top favourites wasted their opportunity on stage 1 they are given another chance as we head up the steeper climb of Santa Maria leading to the city of Quetzaltenango. The climb is 2.5 times longer then the one yesterday at 37.2kms with an average slope of 5.2%. It does flatten out before the finish as the riders have to descent into the mountain valley to find the finish line in 2nd largest city in Guatemala.
The top 2 favourites remain the same in Taaramae and Dekker but now moving into that third slot is Pozzovivo after finishing 9th since Alarcon was no where to be seen on the first stage.
Just over 90kms of racing so the attacks to get in the breakaway start right from the gun.
Carvalho Piamonte Fuglsang Morton Nielsen Jiao
Vueling putting the pressure on ING and Bouygues Telecom to chase all day by getting Fuglsang out front after he worked on the front all day yesterday. Joining him are a lot of decent climbers making this a very strong breakaway of 6.
The peloton knows this and brings them back right away.
Getting in the breakaway has been extremely hard over these past two days. We are now looking at attempt 4-5-6...well I have lost count... 20kms into the stage.
At the sprint point it looks like we might have the BOTD.
Just kidding. Here we go again. If a breakaway isn't established soon the door will be opened for a long distance assault for one of those favourites 2 minutes back.
And as I say that Afonso and Wu slip away from the peloton and quickly build up a lead to 1'30". Have they finally cracked the code?
Nope, more attacks... And some interest names.
Kunshin Eltink Rodrigues Serpa Txurruka
Perhaps they are looking for the same type of result that happen yesterday but they are jumping the gun a little bit to early as the climb doesn't start for another 12kms.
But the peloton lets them get away and they join Afonso and Wu at the start of the climb with a 3 minute lead over the peloton.
The chase originally was being done by ING but as we hit the climb Vespa and CSC are doing the work even though their leaders Pozzovivo/Cataldo and Anton are in the middle of the pack not looking very good at the moment. 26kms to the top of the climb and our 7 leaders have seen their lead cut by a minute.
Riders are beginning to fall off the back in little groups. The first notable name to get dropped is Broco who sat 7th overall after being in the breakaway on stage 1.
The majority of the favourites are at the back of the peloton and are really pressing their luck as riders are slipping past them and being dropped.
The names at the top of the list are the most in danger. It's almost all the favourites!
It's a very long climb but Vespa continues to chip away at the lead of the very dangerous leader's group. It's down to 1'45" with 24kms left to race.
Pozzovivo is now taking a turn on the front so it's clear Vespa is working for Cataldo. And just before that Gomez Marchante was on the front for Castano. CSC are also trying to help in the chase but have used up all their helpers except for the Spanish RR Champion Gil.
As the peloton brings back Afonso who has dropped by the leaders, Kashechkin attacks! He looked to be in bad shape a few kilometers ago but it seems he has found his legs.
If Vueling and Bouygues Telecom aren't going to help chase, the other teams are running out of teammates with still 13kms left in the climb. Realizing this Ratiy attacks!
As soon as Ratiy goes the mountain goat Solis steps to the front. And he is significantly picks up the tempo in the peloton.
Popovych and Krasnoperov fake an attack after seeing up close that Solis is really pushing hard.
The leaders hear this over the race radio and start attacking other with 9.3kms still left in the climb. Ratiy and Kaschechkin have just joined them.
But Solis is tearing this climb up and everyone is back together with 8.4kms to go in the climb and 12.3kms to the finish. 79 riders are present in the peloton.
Getting a gap is hard to come by now but Ratiy has found some open road!
But it comes to nothing as Taaramae keeps attacking trying to get away but instead just bring the peloton up to Ratiy.
And there he goes! Taaramae and Suaza with a dangerous tag-team attack with 4kms left in the climb. This could be the winning move of the tour!
But what is this... Taaramae is being left behind by Suaza!
The climbers in the peloton can see Taaramae struggling and want to bridge the gap before the top of climb. Leading the charge is Rodrigues followed by Popovych and Kashechkin.
But they can't get anywhere as Gomez Marchante is chasing hard to keep the yellow jersey for Castano. 5kms left in the stage, 1000 meters left in the climb. Suaza with a 15 second lead over Taaramae, who has about a 20 second lead over the 65 rider peloton.
It's a Dekker sighting with 750 meters left in the climb. Is it too late for an attack as even Popovych is now taking a turn chasing?
Taaramae is pulled back! Suaza leads over the summit as Dekker comes across in 2nd while countering his attack and taking 3rd is Alarcon. 4th is Popovych who would rather attack than chase. 5th to the man who finished 4th yesterday, Efimkin.
Suaza, Dekker, Alarcon, Popovych, and Efimkin come into Quetzaltenango with a 25 second lead over the peloton. After using the twist and turns of the descent to their advantage.
But the gap is quickly closed up with 1km to go as Kolesnikov sprints across to them. So all of the favourites will finish on the same time even after a very eventful mountain stage. So the only thing left to battle for is the bonus seconds.
It's Dekker leading things out and getting a nice cushion. Alarcon is the only one showing he is gaining speed besides the peloton coming from behind.
And it's Dekker taking the victory and the valuable bonus seconds. He stayed patient and waited all day for his one attack. In the end it was too close to the top of the climb to produce a gap but it will get him the stage win and 20 bonus seconds.
Alarcon was also quiet until the last kilometer of the climb. But his attack is good enough for 2nd on the day and he is the new leader of the youth competition taking it from the young man from Greece, Kastrantas, after he surprising held it after day 1.
Efimkin will take the bonus for 3rd after missing out on them yesterday and will be tied for 3rd overall with Anton heading into the MTT. Tough day for Popovych and Serpa but they are rewarded with top 5's so they will be happy.
The rest of the top 10 is Suaza who out shined his teammate Taaramae today, Kolesnikov, Cataldo, Keizer, and Caruso. 64 riders finish in the lead group and none of the favourites lose time. Meaning only the few riders that gained time on stage 1 and bonus seconds here on stage 2 will separate the favourites heading into the mountain time trial on the final day. The mountains couldn't break them apart, but the race against the clock surely will.
