Stage two is the only flat rated mass start, and takes the riders from Singapore over to Malaysia, to the Endau Rompin National Park to be precise. Don't let the profile indicator fool you that this will be an easy sprinter stage, there is quite a steep hill with its top only five kilometer before the finish line, an ideal place to attack and kryptonite to most sprinters.
Only three riders in break: Neuman (61st @ 15s) Lasinis (64th @ 16s) Tanovitchii (92th @ 26s)
The early intermediate sprint in Kampung Semanggar Luan is won by Neuman ahead of Tanovitchii and Lasinis. Their lead is now four minutes twenty kilometer into the stage. As there are no mountain sprints, the only thing they can earn are points for green and bonus seconds, but not enough to bring them into contention for anything.
Four minutes would also be their maximum lead. Riders from Repsol, Xero, Mapei, Podium Ambition and Farfetch chase, Berg only observing.
The exact same order as the first sprint at second sprint in Kluang, Neuman moving up in the GC. 78 kilometer to go, the gap is halved to two minutes with the same teams in the chase, with Xero even using GC number four Schomber.
50 kilometer and the gap is only 50 seconds, well within visual range. The final intermediate sprint is in fifteen kilometer, perhaps Kemboi fancies a sprint for the bonus seconds to take over the lead. Switching jerseys during the stage is impossible though.
The break just holds off the peloton in Bekok, where the sprint is drawn. Tanovitchii finally wins after placing runner-up to Neuman twice, the Czech now second with Lasinis always third.
Tanovitchii held out longest due to the small lead at the IS, but he is caught with 30 kilometer left. We still have a full peloton of 106 riders, but that might just change as we enter a hilly zone.
The first three riders fall victim to the hills. Lasinis who was in the break, Elosegui who did a lot of work at the front, and the GC number seven: Gonzalez Salas. The climb of Gunuung Bekok coming up, after which only to major climb to Gunung Tiong remains.
Thanks to the work of mainly Podium Ambition and Mapei, a group of 26 is clear with a gap of 30 seconds. Riders with high GC positions are Paillot, Fiedler, Cataford (all at two seconds), includes stage favorites Nelson, Scully and Ackermann, and GC contenders such as Bazhkou, Dunbar and Konig.
Chasing is Berg as Silvestre missed the split. Kemboi is also behind but Farfetch has three riders up front, Bettiol and Turgis besides Paillot.
Eventually the peloton is back together, with the exception of a few riders who lost contact at the back, including Schomber. Fifteen kilometer to go, but the biggest hill of the stage is coming up shortly. Cataford still determining the pace with Nelson on his wheel.
The start of the hill, the top is at four kilometer from the line. Kemboi now nicely at the front with his teammate Figueiredo setting the pace, but Silvestre has also moved up to first twenty positions. Mapei also planning something with Balloni right behind the Portuguese.
At the back, some riders are eliminated. Surprisingly, Cataford is amongst them, but it is not weird either if you realize he has done most of the work at the front. Burke, Vandousselaere, Atkins, Brandao, Vinhas and Schleck also amongst those dropped, but no sprinters.
Favilli, Zabel and Turgis are the first riders at the top, a short downhill left. The green and yellow jerseys of Kemboi and Silvestre are also near the front, as are Houle, Scully and Nelson. Drapac and Lander are too far behind to participate in the sprint.
Two kilometer to the finish, Turgis and Bettiol are left for Kemboi. Behind him are Debesay, Nepomnyachsniy, Scully, Paillot, Zabel, Silvestre, Houle and Nelson in that order. These should be the riders involved in the sprint as the front group is more a long line than a pack.
Bettiol goes too fast for Kemboi, but both have a small lead heading into the final kilometer. Nelson trying to sprint the gap down with Debesay leading out Zabel and Scully from a different team. Silvestre seems too far back for bonus seconds and is danger of losing his jersey.
Kemboi passes Bettiol at 400 meters, they might even receive a time gap as the lead is huge. Nelson leading the sprint for third but hunted down by Debesay, Zabel, Scully and Houle.
Salem Kemboi wins the stage and takes the race lead due to his bonus seconds! Farfetch played this perfectly as Bettiol finishes second, and a time gap is possibly awarded to the next finishers. Nelson imploded, now a four-way fight for third amongst his hunters, Silvestre closing in but too little too late.
Tight finish for third but the final bonus seconds are given to Scully. Houle fourth, Zabel fifth, Debesay sixth. Indeed, a gap of seven seconds is given to the leaders.
Silvestre finishes seventh and loses his yellow jersey, but even second place wouldn't have been enough. Williams the surprising number eight, passing Nelson just before the line. Lienhard completes the top ten. Up to the 56th rider finishes in the same time, seven seconds from the lead duo.
A gap of more than a minute is awarded after this group, catching out Ablenado, Giogieri, Golovash, Kittel and Archibald. Riders who were dropped earlier lost even more time. Most riders with GC ambitions did finish at seven seconds, but Cataford blew a promising position by losing 2'44.
As said before, the yellow jersey goes to Salem Kemboi, who also lead every individual classification (no mountains classification yet), and with aid of number two Bettiol his team Farfetch leads the teams classification. Scully's bonus seconds moves him up to third at 22 seconds, with Silvestre now fourth at 27. From there the differences are as they were with some riders removed: Zmorka fifth at 28, Paillot sixth at 29, Bazhkou, Sergent and Pszczolarski tied seventh at 30, Sterobo tenth at 31.
