Following the British Riders in the Tour de France: Stage 2
STAGE 2 IMAGE OF THE DAY
Bradley Wiggins leads the Sky Procycling team ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway, second right, during the Team Time Trial second stage of the Tour de France. Rear left is Geraint Thomas of Britain, wearing the best young rider's white jersey. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
STAGE 2 ON TWITTER
Mark Cavendish was his usual forthright self as he reflected on a narrow miss for his team in the Team Time Trial after an early crash deprived them of the services of Bernard Eisel: "Aww bollocks. Guess luck's not on our side just yet. Eisel crashed in first 500m of TTT. We rode with 8 riders & finished just 5seconds down." But it didn't take the Manxman long to turn the situation into an opportunity: "For you ladies, I will try and get a twitpic of Bernies wound tonight. It's on his bottom....."
Meanwhile Ben Swift took a more analytical look at Sky's even nearer miss: "Good day today. Really enjoyed that. Team was technical very very good. Shame to loose by only a handful of seconds. Roll on the bunchy" Before wondering "Anybody know the youngest combined team age from this years tour teams? We must be pretty close with 4 guys in the young riders."
Bradley Wiggins stuck to his team leader script: "Great performance today from All the boys, we gave everything and couldn't have done anymore. The stronger Team won today, congratulations."
Finally, Geraint Thomas put the first weekend of the Tour into perspective with a short, sharp "214km down, 3216km to go..."
STAGE 2 VIDEO
Ben Swift's Post-Stage Video Diary
And from a couple of months ago, but topical, Geraint Thomas's tour of the Sky Team bus and its amazing range of facilities
STAGE 2 RESULTS TRACKER
Stage 2 saw the teams of the British riders in the race pack the top five, meaning that on General Classification all five are in the top 24 places in the race.
Stage Result
1 Team Garmin - Cervelo 0:24:48 (Millar)
2 BMC Racing Team 0:00:04
3 Sky Procycling (Swift, Thomas, Wiggins)
4 Team Leopard-Trek
5 HTC - Highroad 0:00:05 (Cavendish)
6 Team Radioshack 0:00:10
7 Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:12
8 Saxo Bank Sungard 0:00:28
9 Pro Team Astana 0:00:32
10 Omega Pharma - Lotto 0:00:39
11 FDJ 0:00:46
12 Team Europcar 0:00:50
13 AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:53
14 Quick Step Cycling Team 0:00:56
15 Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:57
16 Saur-Sojasun 0:01:02
17 Lampre - Isd 0:01:04
18 Katusha Team
19 Movistar Team 0:01:09
20 Vacansoleil-Dcm 0:01:15
21 Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne 0:01:20
22 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:01:22
General Classification after stage 2
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 5:06:25
2 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo @ same time
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
4 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:04
5 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek @ same time
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek @ same time
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek @ same time
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling @ same time
9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team @ same time
10 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek @ same time
other GB
12 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling @ same time
18 Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad 0:00:05
24 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:11
