Stage 2 results

Stage 2 of the Tour de France was 228.5km (142 miles) from Obernai, France to Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. The riders spent more than 5.5 hours in the saddle today. This stage is the 2nd longest stage of the Tour this year.

Danilo Di Luca was the first rider to drop out of the race this year. He left due to an infection and fever. Now there are only 175 riders in the race.

It was nice to see Hushovd starting today's stage after the cut he got on his arm yesterday. Hushovd had to have 3 stitches in his arm yesterday after getting hit by a promotional hand being waved by a spectator. The tour organizers have prohibited PMU (sponsors of the green jersey contest) from distributing the hands in the last 2km of sprint stages.

Hushovd took back the yellow jersey today at the end of the stage, with Hincapie falling to 4th place. The last 10 seconds of the race was very exciting. A T-Mobile rider was in a break away with a chase group right on his heels. They caught him less than 200 meters from the finish line. There was also a crash inside the 2km mark.

The top five for stage 2
1. Robbie McEwen (DVL) 05:36:14
2. Tom Boonen (QSI)
3. Thor Hushovd (C.A)
4. Oscar Freire (RAB)
5. Daniele Bennati (LAM)


Overall standings (top 5)
1. HUSHOVD, Thor (NOR) C.A 09:54:19
2. BOONEN, Tom (BEL) QSI 05"
3. MCEWEN, Robbie (AUS) DVL 08"
4. HINCAPIE, George (USA) DSC 10"
5. ZABRISKIE, David (USA) CSC 16"



Stage Map

(From www.olntv.com)

Stage Topography

(From www.olntv.com)