61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré - Stage 2
Cruel Consequences for the Escapees  - Caught After 222 Kilometers in the Wind.  Angelo Furlan takes the win nipping Markus Zberg and  Super Tom at the line.

Stage 2: Nancy - Dijon  228 km
Lampre's Angelo Furlan picked up his 12th pro victory on the line of the mustard capital of France besting BMC's Markus Zberg and Quick Step's repentant Tom Boonen. Furlan launched his sprint at 250 meters coming around Super Tom for the win. Boonen who launched early, ran out of gas by the line with Zberg taking second.

For Furlan, in his 8th year as a pro, it was his first win in 2008 and was a boost of morale not only to himself, but to the team of Giuseppe Saronni as well, The Blue-Fuchsia squad have had a less than great start to the 2009 season. The sprint followed a late attack by Brit David Millar of Garmin Slipstream from six km out; he was caught and passed in the last moment only 35 meters from the line and denied the days glory.

A four man breakaway animated the day giving the peloton the slip after only one kilometer from the start in Nancy. The quintet piled on the minutes claiming a 5 minute lead in the first hour on the job. The adventurers were: Euskaltel Euskadi's Iñaki Isasi, Fuji/Servetto's Hector Gonzalez Baeza, Paul Voss (Milram),  Alexandre Pichot of BBox Bouygues and Stéphane Auge of ofidis.

The five  optimists chose the longest stage of the tDauphiné, yet typical of optimists the lads were unfazed by the distance; they continued to drive away at the front attacking the long black road ahead and gained a maximum of over 9 minutes as Cadel's Silence/Lotto crew led the plodding pace of the peloton.

With 100 km to go the sprinters teams started to put a few riders on the front and the gap slowly started to vaporize as Lampre, Francaise des Jeux and and Quick Step traded off pulling the peloton from the front.  With 60 km to go the quintets gap had fallen to 3 minutes. At the front the blistering pace was visibly wearing on the men.

With 40 km to go Lampre/NGC and Quick Step led a full on assault as the gap, Fuji/Servetto's Baeza was the to fall victim of the days effort as the as the gap fell to below 1 minute at 25 km he fell off the back as the German/Basque/French alliance Iñaki Isasi, Alexandre Pichot, Stephane Auge and Paul Voss tried to resist. Voss was the next to reel off the back as the gap fell to 30 seconds. Having the escape in its sight the peloton seemed to grant a momentary reprieve the the trio and the gap again expanded to  45 seconds. Alas, the peloton only slowed to gather its forces for the final attack to the finish in Dijoin.

Isasi hit his limit with 15 km to go and the the French duo were swept up 7 kilometers later after 222 kilometers with their noses in the wind.

As the catch was made David Millar took advantage of the distraction to attack and open a gap - time trialing his way ahead of the bunch; it made for a dramatic touch to the theater of the day...

But the Scot couldn't write a better ending and was passed by Boonen in the final 35 meters with Furlan and Zberg on his wheel with Furlan coming around for the win at the line.

 Lampre/NGC
Furlan Wins!
Angelo Furlan took his first victory of 2009 in the second stage of the Tour of the Dauphiné. Fast wheels returned to the Lampre-NGC team, after the victories of Lorenzetto; Furlan has also found his previous fast form. The race was characterized by a breakaway of 4 riders, and then resolved in a final convulsive finish made more dangerous by the rain. The sprint was launched by Boonen; in the final meters he was overtaken by Furlan on his left, which thanks to a big comeback was able to get a victory that served to boost the morale of Angelo and our Team.

Furlan's words: "I am happy to win today, it comes at a time rather difficult for the team for results, I thank all my comrades who were super in the final, and even during the stage. The arrival was uncertain until the ultimate meters, thanks to the work of Millar and road conditions made slippery by the rain. I managed to get in the wake of the best sprinters and went at 250 meters, making a nice comeback on Boonen who launched the srint. With a victory like this it certainly bodes well for the continuation of the race, and makes me aware of my having put resources behind the top runners. "
Video of the finish is available at the Lampre/NGC site.

Caisse d'Epargne
Alejandro Valverde
Alejandro finished in the middle of the bunch in 34th place: “The stage of today was a rather long one and a little bit boring but the most important thing was to finish avoiding possible crashes because it started to rain in the last kilometers and the tension increased just before the sprint. There was a crash when we reached the last round-about and the pack broke in two parts but all the riders received the same time so that was not a problem. This morning it was sunny when we started and I had a good day with normal feelings. But if the stage of today was a very quiet one the one tomorrow should be more animated like all the stages which have finished in Saint-Etienne. It will be important to be very careful, most of all in the final.”

Saxo Bank
"The key for us today was that Jakob came through the stage without any problems. His neck and shoulder are naturally sore and stiff after his crash yesterday but it seems that he will be ready for the time trial on Wednesday. Tomorrow, we will try to save our strength by staying in shelter in the field unless a larger group of riders is going away. In that case we must be represented in the front group. Otherwise, it is all about saving strength and keeping the legs ready for the mountains where we're riding for Jakob”, said a confident Dan Frost after the stage.

Stage 2 Results
Nancy - Dijon 
228 km - 5:35:04 -  40.828 km/h
1 123 Ita19770621 Furlan Angelo Lam Ita 5h35'04" 00"
2 181 Sui19740627 Zberg Markus Bmc Sui 5h35'04" ' '
3 81 Bel19801015 Boonen Tom Qst Bel 5h35'04" ' '
4 122 Ita19840612 Bandiera Marco Lam Ita 5h35'04" ' '
5 137 Ger19820430 Sieberg Marcel Thr Ger 5h35'04" ' '
6 58 Irl19840703 Roche Nicolas Alm Irl 5h35'04" ' '
7 146 Bel19800930 Steegmans Gert Kat Bel 5h35'04" ' '
8 3 Fra19801006 Coyot Arnaud Gce Fra 5h35'04" ' '
9 91 Gbr19770104 Millar David Grm Gbr 5h35'04" ' '
10 112 Ger19810305 Knees Christian Mrm Ger 5h35'04" ' '
11 102 Jpn19840922 Arashiro Yukiya Bbo Jpn 5h35'04" ' '
12 66 Fra19841212 Ladagnous Mathieu Fdj Fra 5h35'04" ' '
13 118 Ger19800620 Wegmann Fabian Mrm Ger 5h35'04" ' '
14 87 Ita19740309 Velo Marco Qst Ita 5h35'04" ' '
15 76 Fra19820612 Minard Sébastien Cof Fra 5h35'04" ' '
16 13 Ger19790915 Lang Sebastian Sil Ger 5h35'04" ' '
17 11 Aus19770214 Evans Cadel Sil Aus 5h35'04" ' '
18 147 Rus19850702 Trussov Nicolay Kat Rus 5h35'04" ' '
19 67 Fra19800911 Le Mével Christophe Fdj Fra 5h35'04" ' '
20 141 Rus19750226 Botcharov Alexandre Kat Rus 5h35'04" ' '
21 131 Ger19750619 Grabsch Bert Thr Ger 5h35'04" ' '
22 85 Bel19810715 Rosseler Sébastien Qst Bel 5h35'04" ' '
23 43 Esp19791117 Astarloza Mikel Eus Esp 5h35'04" ' '
24 45 Esp19780515 Martinez Egoi Eus Esp 5h35'04" ' '
25 47 Esp19820715 Perez Alan Eus Esp 5h35'04" ' '
Complete Stage 2 Results

Points Classification After Stage 3
1 11 Evans Cadel Aus Sil 40
2 123 Furlan Angelo Ita Lam 40
3 21 Contador Alberto Esp Ast 30
4 181 Zberg Markus Sui Bmc 30
5 1 Valverde Alejandro Esp Gce 25
6 81 Boonen Tom Bel Qst 25
7 85 Rosseler Sébastien Bel Qst 20
8 122 Bandiera Marco Ita Lam 20
9 112 Knees Christian Ger Mrm 17
10 166 Nibali Vicenzo Ita Liq 16
11 137 Sieberg Marcel Ger Thr 16
12 136 Rabon Frantisek Cze Thr 13
13 91 Millar David Gbr Grm 13
14 58 Roche Nicolas Irl Alm 13
15 146 Steegmans Gert Bel Kat 11

KOM Climbers Classification
1 107 Pichot Alexandre Fra Bbo 8
2 44 Isasi Inaki Esp Eus 8
3 11 Evans Cadel Aus Sil 5
4 21 Contador Alberto Esp Ast 3
5 171 González Héctor Esp Fuj 2
6 166 Nibali Vicenzo Ita Liq 1

General Classification After Stage 2
240 km - 5:50:40  - 41.082 km/h
1 11 Aus19770214 Evans Cadel Sil Aus 5h50'40" 00"
2 21 Esp19821206 Contador Alberto Ast Esp 5h50'48" 08"
3 1 Esp19800425 Valverde Alejandro Gce Esp 5h51'03" 23"
4 85 Bel19810715 Rosseler Sébastien Qst Bel 5h51'13" 33"
5 166 Ita19841114 Nibali Vicenzo Liq Ita 5h51'14" 34"
6 136 Cze19830926 Rabon Frantisek Thr Cze ' ' ' '
7 112 Ger19810305 Knees Christian Mrm Ger ' ' ' '
8 68 Fra19820205 Vaugrenard Benoit Fdj Fra 5h51'16" 36"
9 4 Esp19781127 Gutierrez José Ivan Gce Esp ' ' ' '
10 91 Gbr19770104 Millar David Grm Gbr 5h51'17" 37"
11 61 Fra19860806 Coppel Jeróme Fdj Fra 5h51'19" 39"
12 32 Ned19820924 Clement Stef Rab Ned ' ' ' '
13 115 Ned19840518 Terpstra Niki Mrm Ned 5h51'21" 41"
14 144 Rus19780525 Petrov Evgeni Kat Rus 5h51'22" 42"
15 182 Usa19840216 Bookwalter Brent Bmc Usa ' ' ' '
16 82 Fra19800102 Pineau Jérôme Qst Fra 5h51'23" 43"
17 103 Fra19820625 Bonnet William Bbo Fra ' ' ' '
18 13 Ger19790915 Lang Sebastian Sil Ger 5h51'24" 44"
19 162 Pol19850307 Bodnar Maciek Liq Pol 5h51'26" 46"
20 28 Esp19770401 Zubeldia Haimar Ast Esp 5h51'27" 47"
21 17 Bel19830201 Van Den Broeck Jurgen Sil Bel 5h51'28" 48"
22 105 Fra19760702 Lefèvre Laurent Bbo Fra 5h51'29" 49"
23 187 Sui19721222 Moos Alexandre Bmc Sui ' ' ' '
24 151 Den19800116 Bak Lars Ytting Sax Den ' ' ' '
25 35 Ned19731105 Moerenhout Koos Rab Ned ' ' ' '
26 124 Ita19800610 Marzano Marco Lam Ita 5h51'30" 50"
27 116 Svk19850221 Velits Martin Mrm Svk ' ' ' '
28 43 Esp19791117 Astarloza Mikel Eus Esp 5h51'31" 51"
29 38 Ned19781203 Tankink Bram Rab Ned 5h51'32" 52"
30 75 Fra19810118 Kern Christophe Cof Fra 5h51'33" 53"
31 5 Esp19791002 Pasamontes Luis Gce Esp ' ' ' '
32 25 Por19800326 Paulinho Sergio Miguel Moreira Ast Por 5h51'34" 54"
33 131 Ger19750619 Grabsch Bert Thr Ger 5h51'35" 55"
34 57 Ita19770925 Nocentini Rinaldo Alm Ita ' ' ' '
35 42 Esp19830302 Anton Igor Eus Esp 5h51'36" 56"
36 71 Fra19820404 Pauriol Remi Cof Fra 5h51'37" 57"
37 2 Esp19831115 Erviti Ollo Imanol Gce Esp ' ' ' '
38 58 Irl19840703 Roche Nicolas Alm Irl 5h51'38" 58"
39 33 Esp19770917 Flecha Juan Antonio Rab Esp 5h51'39" 59"
40 121 Slo19860623 Spilak Simon Lam Slo 5h51'40" 01'00"
41 161 Ita19771126 Basso Ivan Liq Ita ' ' ' '
42 86 Bel19770209 Van De Walle Jürgen Qst Bel 5h51'41" 01'01"
43 106 Fra19861010 Rolland Pierre Bbo Fra ' ' ' '
44 67 Fra19800911 Le Mével Christophe Fdj Fra ' ' ' '
45 54 Rus19811202 Efimkin Vladimir Alm Rus ' ' ' '
46 31 Ned19860531 Gesink Robert Rab Ned 5h51'42" 01'02"
47 48 Esp19781104 Verdugo Gorka Eus Esp ' ' ' '
48 108 Rus19840126 Trofimov Yuri Bbo Rus ' ' ' '
49 183 Sui19861209 Frank Mathias Bmc Sui ' ' ' '
50 174 Esp19860320 Intxausti Beñat Fuj Esp 5h51'43" 01'03"
Complete General Classification After Stage 2
Team Classification After Stage 2

2009 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré Stages June 6 - 14
Stage 1: Nancy - Nancy (12.1 km) ITT 12.1 km
Stage 2: Nancy - Dijon  228 km
Stage 3: Tournus - Saint-Étienne  182 km
Stage 4: Bourg-les-Valence - Valence  ITT 42.4 km
Stage 5: Valence - Mont Ventoux 154 km
Stage 6: Gap - Briançon 106 km
Stage 7: Briançon - Saint-François-Longchamp 157 km
Stage 8: Faverges - Grenoble  146 km
Total length: 1,027.5 km

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60th Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2008

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