Paris-Nice

Stage 2: Contres to Limoges, 201.5km/125mi

By Cathy Mehl

Another crash occurred at 500m before the finish line in Limoges for Stage 2 of Paris-Nice, but this one was less dramatic than yesterday’s chaos on the bike and only a few riders hit the deck, with Team RadioShack riders all ok. Meanwhile the group sprint went on with William Bonnet (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) able to take the win with a bike throw ahead of Peter Sagan (Liquigas) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne).  Rabobank’s Lars Boom retained the race lead for a third day followed by Jens Voigt (Team Saxo Bank) but Sanchez’s third place on the stage gave him a time bonus to move into third on general classification.  Levi Leipheimer remains in 8^th-place on GC at 25-seconds off Boom’s lead.

The break-of-the-day was comprised of Koen de Koert (Skil-Shimano) and Jens Mouris of Vacansoleil.  The duo was joined by Mauro Finetto (Liquigas) and Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), making a strong foursome that built a gap of more than four minutes. The group stayed away over the three Cat. 3 climbs while Rabobank drove the main field in anticipation of a timely catch before Limoges. 

Geoffroy on Stage 2

The climbs broke up the efforts of the breakaway spurring more riders to try their luck off the front, but by the final 2km the peloton was all together and driving hard.  The crash slowed down some fifty riders but all arrived safely after more than four-hours in the saddle. 

Wednesday’s Stage 3 takes the peloton further south from Saint-Junien to Aurillac in a long stage that features six rated climbs – three Cat. 3’s and three Cat. 2’s, the final summit coming only three kilometers from the finish, setting up a perfect launching point for a brave, breakaway rider hoping to gain time on the general classification.

Beyond the Finish Line: The Limoges porcelain sought by collectors today was actually produced by a number of factories in the Limoges region of France from the late 1700’s until around 1930. Production did not cease in 1930, however. This arbitrary cutoff date simply denotes a change in the global economy when the styles of Limoges wares notably changed from very elaborate to more basic in design.  Many pieces had factory marks as well as marks showing who decorated each piece.

Top Ten Results

1          William Bonnet (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom    4:22:40              

2          Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas - Doimo                    

3          Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                     

4          Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre - Farnese Vini                     

5          Juan Jose Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank                         

6          Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne                       

7          Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil - Shimano                       

8          Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha                

9          Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team              

10         Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas – Doimo

Team RadioShack on Stage 2

38         Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)

53         Jani Brajkovic (Slo)

69         Levi Leipheimer (USA)

86         Tiago Machado (Por)

92         Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)

128       Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:00:57

155       Christopher Horner (USA) 0:02:27

General Classification after Stage 2

1          Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank       8:55:51              

2          Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank          0:00:05              

3          Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne        0:00:10              

4          David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions   0:00:13              

5          Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas - Doimo            0:00:15              

6          Gregory Henderson (NZl) Sky Professional Cycling Team            0:00:20              

7          Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas - Doimo       0:00:23              

8          Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack           0:00:25              

9          Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana              

10         Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo Test Team   0:00:29

Team RadioShack on General Classification

16         Jani Brajkovic (Slo) 0:00:35

72         Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) 0:01:14

114       Tiago Machado (Por) 0:05:21

134       Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)  0:08:19         

144       Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) 0:08:44

161       Christopher Horner (USA)  0:10:01 

Photos courtesy of Graham Watson