Yellow Jersey Changes On Tour's Stage 2

The Tour de France entered the hills of the Ardenne on Monday and the rain made it even more difficult than expected. There was a breakaway by Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) and a few other riders, but all except Chavanel eventually returned to the peloton. After the next to last climb several riders crashed on the downhill, including several race favorites such as Leipheimer and Schleck.

It looked like the riders in the peloton decided that Chavanel (pictured) was not a danger to keep the Yellow Jersey (especially after the race gets to the Pyrenees and the Alps) because they didn't try to run him down. Instead, they slowed down and let the riders involved in the crash catch up and rejoin them. Then they decided to make a sort of impromptu protest of the dangerous conditions they had encountered in this stage. There was no dash to the finish line, but all riders in the peloton just cruised across the line together.

So Chavanel won the stage and took the Yellow Jersey. He has about 3 minutes on the rest of the field. Frenchman Maxim Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) was given second place and German Fabian Wegmann (Milram) was listed as finishing third, even though both riders crossed the line with the peloton. Except for Chavanel moving up to first place, the overall leaders remained pretty much the same.

On Tuesday the race leaves Belgium and finally enters France with a 213 kilometer ride from Wanze to Arenberg-Porte Du Hainaut. There is only one small category 4 climb near the start of the race. The difficult part will be after the race enters France and the riders must race on cobblestones. The uneven cobblestones usually cause some crashes, and if it rains again, it could be a really dangerous stretch of the race.

Here are the standings after Stage 2:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)

1. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step)

2. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland (Saxo Bank).....2' 57"

3. Tony Martin, Germany (HTC-Columbia).....3' 07"

4. David Millar, Great Britain (Garmin-Transitions).....3' 17"

5. Lance Armstrong, USA (Radio Shack).....3' 19"

6. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Sky Pro).....3' 20"

7. Alberto Contador, Spain (Astana).....3' 24"

8. Levi Leipheimer, USA (Radio Shack).....3' 25"

9. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norway (Sky Pro).....3' 29"

10. Linus Gerdemann, Germany (Milram).....3' 32"

11. Brent Bookwalter, USA (BMC Racing).....3' 32"

12. Janez Brajkovic, Slovenia (Radio Shack).....3' 32"

13. Michael Rogers, Australia (HTC-Columbia).....3' 32"

14. Ruben Plaza Molina, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....3' 33"

15. Andreas Kloden, Germany (Radio Shack).....3' 33"

GREEN JERSEY (Sprinters)

1. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....44 pts

2. Alessandro Petacchi, Italy (Lampre-Farnese).....35 pts

3. Jurgen Roelandts, Belgium (Omega Pharma-Lotto).....34 pts

4. Mark Renshaw, Australia (HTC-Columbia).....30 pts

5. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Cervelo).....26 pts

6. Robbie McEwen, Australia (Katusha).....24 pts

7. Matthieu Ladagnous, France (FDJ).....22 pts

8. Daniel Oss, Italy (Liquigas-Doimo).....20 pts

9. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....19 pts

10. Sebastien Turgot, France (Bouygues Telecom).....19 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Climbers)

1. Jerome Pineau, France (Quick Step).....13 pts

2. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....8 pts

3. Rin Taaramae, Estonia (Cofidis).....8 pts

4. Maxime Montfort, Belgium (HTC-Columbia).....5 pts

5. Matthew Lloyd, Australia (Omega Pharma-Lotto).....4 pts

6. Jurgen Roelandts, Belgium (Omega Pharma-Lotto).....3 pts

7. Carlos Barredo, Spain (Quick Step).....2 pts

8. Francesco Gavazzi, Italy (Lampre-Farnese).....2 pts

9. Marcus Burghardt, Germany (BMC Racing).....2 pts

10. Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland (Saxo Bank).....1 pt

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Quick Step

2. Radio Shack.......2' 51"

3. HTC-Columbia.......2' 52"

4. Garmin-Transitions.......2' 53"

5. Sky Pro.......3' 07"

6. Astana.......3' 11"

7. Saxo Bank.......3' 13"

8. Caisse D'Epargne.......3' 19"

9. BMC Racing.......3' 21"

10. Milram.......3' 27"

11. Liquigas-Doimo.......3' 27"