Australian cyclist Robbie McEwen won the sprint in Esch-sur-Alzette to take the 2nd stage of the Tour de France on Monday, as Norway's Thor Hushovd regained the overall leader's yellow jersey from George Hincapie.
Pity poor Matthias Kessler, though. The T-Mobile rider attacked with about 3.5 miles to go, gaining a 15-second lead that he lost within sight of the finish line.
Same with David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval), who led the 141-mile stage for 113 miles, before he was caught by Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) in a series of climbs in the final miles of the stage as Wegmann tried to maintain his lead for the mountains polka dot jersey.
In winning his 9th career Tour de France stage, McEwen stayed near the front and missed a crash in the final 3 kilometers. He credited his American teammate Fred Rodriguez with helping to lead him out to the finish.
The Davitamon-Lotto cyclist, with 8 Tours de France to his credit, also stayed out of the fray in the most of the intermediate sprints during the day to save his energy for the final push.
Hushovd won back the yellow jersey Monday by picking up bonus seconds on those intermediate sprints, just as Hincapie had done the day before. Hushovd contested those sprints with Belgium's Tom Boonen, who sits 5 seconds back at the end of the day.
While the Discovery team of Hincapie stayed near the front of the peloton to avoid problems, they didn't appear to work to protect Hincapie's overall lead, in spite of what team manager Johan Bruyneel said in Roadcycling.com: “Tomorrow, we'll definitely try to defend it (the yellow jersey).” I assume team members are saving themselves for later stages.
Does Hincapie plan to fight to get back the yellow jersey? “If I see an opportunity like I did yesterday, I'll take it,” he said in post race interviews.
Danilo Di Luca of Liquigas dropped out because of illness. Hushovd should be glad he could return to the peloton today. His right arm was wrapped in a bandage after he was struck by either a cardboard placard or a camera in the finish at Sunday's stage.
The top 10 are (updated):
1. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole
2. Tom Boonen (Belgium) Quick Step, 5 seconds behind
3. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto, 8 seconds behind
4. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, 10 seconds behind
5. David Zabriskie (USA), Team CSC, 16 seconds
6. Sebastian Lang (Ger), Gerolsteiner, 16 seconds,
7. Alejandro Valverde (Spa), Caisse d'Epargne, 16 seconds
8. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), CSC, 16 seconds
9. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 18 seconds
10. Paolo Savoldelli (Ita), Discovery, 20 seconds
Overall, the Hincapie and Zabriskie still lead the American contingent. Others US riders are:
11. Floyd Landis (Phonak), 21 seconds behind
20. Chris Horner, left (Davitamon-Lotto), 27 seconds
29. Bobby Julich (CSC), 30 seconds
34. Christian Vandevelde (CSC), 33 seconds
35. Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), 33 seconds
99. Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto), 50 seconds
Other contests: Green jersey — McEwen; Climber — David de la Fuente; Best Young Rider — Benoit Vaugrenard; Team — Discovery.
Tuesday's Stage 3 could be another sprinter's stage, although there are plenty of hills at the end of the day approaching Valkenburg. The 134-mile route begins in Esch-sur-Alzette.
See CyclingNews and VeloNews for updates and more results.
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