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Gilbert vaults into Dauphiné lead
Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) joined an early breakaway effort in the 203km second stage of the Dauphiné Libéré Tuesday and not only managed to stay away but now holds a solid five-minute lead in the traditional warm-up race for the Tour de France.
Gilbert finished more than five minutes ahead of the peloton on a generally flat stage from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Saint-Galmier in eastern France.
Gilbert, winner of this year's Het Volk in Belgium, joined a three-man break with teammate Sebastien Joly and Quick Step's Cedric Vasseur at the 44km mark, but was the only survivor, beating the peloton by 5:19.
"This is remarkable," said Gilbert, the winner of this year's Het Volk in Belgium. "It's incredible. I've never had the leader's jersey in an event of this caliber. I had no idea the day would end like this, but I was very motivated."
Gilbert had a maximum lead of more than seven minutes but impressively held off the peloton, which was more cruising than charging with several much tougher mountain stages still to come in the eight-day race.
Gilbert showed his annoyance with the media after the race when questioned about the Spanish doping scandal that has rocked cycling.
"We don't care about that. What interests me is this victory," he fumed. "Leave us alone to enjoy our champagne when we win. We want to savor this victory, they don't come along very often."
Gilbert easily moved into the overall leaders jersey taking it from Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann.
With a lead of more than five minutes, Gilbert, a talented time trialist, is likely to hold the jersey through Wednesday's time-trial stage. But he faces a real challenge trying to keep the overall lead going into Thursday's stage, which finishes atop Mt. Ventoux.
Results - Stage 2
1. Philippe Gilbert (B), Française des Jeux, 203km in 4:45:53 (42.605 kph)
2. Samuel Dumoulin (F), AG2R Prevoyance, at 5:19
3. Peter Wrolich (A), Gerolsteiner, at 5:23
4. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole 5:23
5. Fabian Wegmann (G), Gerolsteiner 5:23
6. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre-Fondital 5:23
7. Stuart O'grady (Aus), CSC 5:23
8. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), AG2R Prevoyance 5:23
9. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz), Milram 5:23
10. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 5:23
Overall, after Stage 2
1. Philippe Gilbert (B), Française des Jeux, at 9:57:13
2. Fabian Wegmann (G), Gerolsteiner, at 5:22
3. Thomas Voeckler (F), Bouygues Telecom, at 5:27
4. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, at 5:27
5. Egoi Martinez (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 5:27
6. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 5:27
7. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), AG2R Prevoyance, at 5:31
8. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Credit Agricole, at 5:33
9. Stuart O´Grady (Aus), CSC, at 5:33
10. Sebastian Lang (G), Gerolsteiner, at 5:34
