Frenchman Christophe Moreau (AG2R Prévoyance) made full use of a hilly course to launch a decisive breakaway, netting his second ever Dauphine stage win and the yellow jersey.
The rest of the bunch ended in the usual sprint with Alejandro Valverde leading yesterday’s winner Heinrich Haussler home, 33 seconds down. Previous yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins ended the day in third place overall.
Stage 2 Results
1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 3:50:38 (40,844 km/h)
2 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.33
4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
5 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
6 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
7 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis
8 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
9 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
10 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Milram
General Classification
1 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance 9:30:42 (39,972 km/h)
2 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana 0.07
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Cofidis 0.24
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel 0.25
5 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.26
6 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0.27
8 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC
9 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.29
10 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.30