Le Tour 100 – Stage 2

Bastia to Ajaccio

Distance: 156 kilometers.

This is not going to be nice. The first half of the stage is a gentle uphill run that includes a sprint, but then it is mountain time with two category 3 climbs and then a category two climb to the top of Col de Vizzovona. After the top it gets dangerous as it is downhill until about 10 km from the end where there is another category 3 climb before the coast into Ajaccio. The top ten should look very different today.

The BBC has a video look at the history of the Tour, if you have the time and resources.

Marcel Kittel got to keep the Green, but the other two Jerseys are gone after today.

Jan Bakelants took the stage and the Yellow today, and there are now deficit times to be made up, 17 minutes and 35 seconds for Marcel Kittel, and those, like
Geraint Thomas, who were injured yesterday. It was a stage for all-arounders.

Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 ) [Yellow] 08h 40′ 03″
Marcel Kittel ( Ger – ARG – 197 ) [Green] 47 points
Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 051 ) [Polka Dot] 5 points
Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) 7 [White]

Team: RadioShack-Leopard ( RLT – 041-049 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 )
Combative: Blel Kadri ( Fra – ALM – 087 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Jan Bakelants ( Bel – RLT – 042 )
2 David Millar ( GB – GRS – 176 ) + 00′ 01″
3 Julien Simon ( Fra – SOJ – 218 ) + 00′ 01″
4 Daryl Impey ( RSA – OGE – 185 ) + 00′ 01″
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen ( Nor – SKY – 002 ) + 00′ 01″
6 Simon Gerrans ( Aus – OGE – 181 ) + 00′ 01″
7 Michal Kwiatkowski ( Pol – OPQ – 153 ) + 00′ 01″
8 Sergey Lagutin ( Uzb – VCD – 206 ) + 00′ 01″
9 Christophe Riblon ( Fra – ALM – 089 ) + 00′ 01″
10 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 031 ) + 00′ 01″

The Rest of the Top 30:

11 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – TST – 097 ) + 00′ 01″
12 Romain Bardet ( Fra – ALM – 082 ) + 00′ 01″
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 021 ) + 00′ 01″
14 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 121 ) + 00′ 01″
15 Jean-Christophe Péraud ( Fra – ALM – 081 ) + 00′ 01″
16 Sylvain Chavanel ( Fra – OPQ – 152 ) + 00′ 01″
17 Damiano Cunego ( Ita – LAM – 141 ) + 00′ 01″
18 Christopher Froome ( GB – SKY – 001 ) + 00′ 01″
19 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – TST – 094 ) + 00′ 01″
20 Jakob Fuglsang ( Den – EUC – 063 ) + 00′ 01″
21 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 109 ) + 00′ 01″
22 Mikel Astarloza ( Esp – EUS – 112 ) + 00′ 01″
23 Jean Marc Marino ( Fra – SOJ – 216 ) + 00′ 01″
24 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 006 ) + 00′ 01″
25 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas ( Col – MOV – 128 ) + 00′ 01″
26 Jon Izaguirre Insausti ( Esp – EUS – 114 ) + 00′ 01″
27 Adam Hansen ( Aus – LTB – 025 ) + 00′ 01″
28 Michael Albasini ( Sui – OGE – 182 ) + 00′ 01″
29 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( Esp – KAT – 101 ) + 00′ 01″
30 Cyril Gautier ( Fra – EUC – 054 ) + 00′ 01″

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

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