Monday’s stage from Nancy to Dijon was the longest at 228km/142mi on a mostly-flat course that looked perfectly suited for sprinters.
In the final 100m Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) and Lampre?s Angelo Furlan gave full-effort to pass Millar, with Boonen running out of gas at the final moment and Furlan taking a fine win on the line. Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) held onto the yellow leader?s jersey and maintains a gap of eight seconds to Team Astana’s Alberto Contador in second place and Alejandro Valverder (Caisse d’Epargne) in third at 23-seconds off the lead.
"Stage 2 was a long and not really interesting stage," said Team Director Dirk Demol. "But for us it was perfect. After 500 meters a breakaway of five riders went away and they stayed in the front, almost till the end. The team from Evans took its responsibility and kept everything under control. The last 40 k they got help from Quick-Step and Lampre. For us, it was more important not to crash. Tomorrow will be more interesting. The final of the stage in Saint-Etienne will be more challenging, and then there will be the TT on Wednesday. Good test again for Alberto," he concluded.
Contador rode well on his new TT bike, "Yes I was happy about my new TT bike. It’s a bike designed for the Tour. The bike is more aerodynamic than the others we have. Plus it was a test of a prototype and the test was good," he continued, "but Evans was better. However I won’t complain after two months without competition. Plus I haven’t done any specific TT training yet."
Demol added, "It is a nice bike. When you see that the gap between Alberto and the numbers 3 and 4 was not so small it looks good for the Tour. In this Dauphin? we will try not to win absolutely. We need to be fresh in Monaco. Of course, when we can take a stage, we will do it."
Website: Astana Cycling Team
