Tour de Luxembourg

Stage 2: Schifflange to Differdange, 202.7km/126mi

By Cathy Mehl

With two stages left to race, last year’s winner and home-country favorite Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) took the victory on the line just in front of Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil).  Leading the chasing group the included Lance Armstrong at 35-seconds behind was Team Sky’s Juan Antonio Flecha.  Carrara’s good result was enough to move him into the leader’s jersey, taking over from Cyril Lemoine (Saur-Sojasun). Schleck took over second-place sitting just one-second behind on the General Classification with Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong slotting into third place at 30-seconds off Carrara’s leading time.

“As far as the race development and the feelings in the legs are concerned, we are happy,” explained Team Director Johan Bruyneel.  He continued: “Except for the result…It was a real tactical race. In the second (of three) local laps, with that hard climb of 2K, there were attacks on the top of that climb. Schleck and Carrara went away. They got immediately 20 seconds and the race was over.”

Bruyneel commented on Lance’s day, saying, “In general, Lance felt really good. The team worked very hard the whole day. Maybe a bit more than we had to.  That’s what killed us in the end maybe. Unfortunately you never know the result of a race before that race is done. But I am happy about the team’s and Lance’s performance. We knew that it would be a stage for Lance or Klödi. Rast was our best classified rider before the stage, but we knew that three times over the hard climb would be too hard for Rast.”  Rast came in with Klöden some fifty seconds behind the stage winner Schleck.

A peloton of 118 riders rode from Schifflange to Differdange on Friday’s Queen stage in the Tour de Luxembourg.  A breakaway of five went clear after 20km of racing, building a gap of more than five minutes.  Included in the break were Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Jorge Montenegro (ACA).    Saur-Sojasun worked to protect their race leader Cyril Lemoine, but most of the big effort came from Team RadioShack.  With three riders in the top ten, it was in the best interest of The Shack riders to control the speed of the race.  

It was a tough course with many ups and downs, causing the lead group to break up and re-form several times.   At 55km to go the gap was down to below three minutes with The Shack setting the pace on the front.   On the local laps the peloton came back together, setting up chances for opportunists to attempt at getting away.   The most notable escape was put in by Schleck and Carrara when they jumped at the start of the last loop with 20km to go.  Chasing hard behind them was a group that included Armstrong and teammates Andreas Klöden and Gregory Rast, but they were unable to catch the front duo and Schleck claimed the victory.   A number of riders finished outside the time limit and will not be allowed to start tomorrow, including Team RadioShack’s Daryl Impey and Sam Bewley, leaving the team with six riders for the final two stages.

Saturday’s profile is yet another lumpy affair with 191.5km of racing from Eschweiler to Diekirch.  

Beyond the Finish Line:  Differdange Castle is situated in a peaceful parkland and is now a campus for Miami University. Dating from the 16th Century, this romantic Renaissance castle has a moat and four towers.  In the middle of World War I, a violent fire broke out in the castle. It was not caused by any military activity or battle, but whether by a short circuit or by some other accident or human error was never determined. To the horror of the townspeople, the roof of the castle and its outbuildings were completely destroyed. Some even feared that the red glow of the fire would attract enemy blaze. The damage was extensive, but much remained. Fortunately, the owners of the castle and the Luxembourg authorities made the decision to restore rather than demolish the ancient building.

Top Ten Results

1              Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxobank        5:10:38                   

2              Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                             

3              Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Sky Professionel Cycling Team              0:00:35  

4              Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha                          

5              Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team       0:00:36  

6              Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack                              

7              Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil - Shimano                     

8              Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team           0:00:53  

9              Patrick Sinkewitz (Ger) ISD - Neri                               

10            Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professionel Cycling Team

Team RadioShack Results

11           Andreas Klöden (Ger)

26           Gregory Rast (Swi) 0:00:58                            

27           Ivan Rovny (Rus)

73           Bjorn Selander (USA) 0:09:43

79           Tiago Machado (Por)

HD          Daryl Impey (RSA) 0:17:10

HD          Sam Bewley (NZl)

General Classification after Stage 2

1              Matteo Carrara (Ita) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team                             

2              Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxobank        0:00:01  

3              Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack  0:00:30             

4              Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Sky Professionel Cycling Team 0:00:34                

5              Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha                          

6              Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team       0:00:35  

7              Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil - Shimano    0:00:39  

8              Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack                0:00:50  

9              Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur - Sojasun            0:00:51  

10            Gregory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack                     

Team RadioShack on General Classification

27           Ivan Rovny (Rus)  1:07:00 

78           Bjorn Selander (USA)  10:26:00 

99           Tiago Machado (Por)   15:05:00