On Stage 1 André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) equelled Robbie McEwen's 12 stage win as he obliterated his rivals in the finishing sprint. Today Greipel will be wearing the leaders ochre jersey but with the tough Corkscrew climb to shake things up in the final kilometers, he will lose the jersey. The two favorites behind Greipel in GC who look most likely to inherit the ochre are defending champion Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) and current world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC).
As the course profile shows the stage is rather undulating with an even descent into Rostrevor. There is a loop around Hahndorf, otherwise this is a point a to point b race.The first sprint of the day comes just after 32kms of racing in Echunga which should be hotly contested with the points classification rather tight after Stage 1. Following the Hanhdorf loop and feeding station there is a second sprint point 71kms into the race at Oakbank and from here on in the sprinters will conserve energy and hope not to lose too much time over the Corkscrew climb which has been the talking point of the stage. Here several attacks will be launched by the likes of Gerrans and Gilbert with a fast descent into Rostrevor offering a stage win and possibly the ochre jersey for the first rider over the line. Jordan Kerby (Uni SA) won the maximum king of the mountains points yesterday and will be wearing the green polka dot jersey today but it will be a tough ask to defend the jersey up against the Euro pros.
Results:
Team Sky recorded their first win of 2013 on Stage 2 with Geraint Thomas attacking on the Corkscrew ascent and outwitting his escapees to sprint across the line in first place. Behind Thomas was a group that looked too disorganised to stay away with a second group catching the front four riders in the final few 100 metres. Thomas took the initiative and ensured his move wouldn't fall flat due to the lack of organisation in the bunch. On the descent a crash took out the chasing riders with several big names involved which alleviated some of the pressure on Thomas and co as the Welshman rode away to his first road race win since 2010 when he won the British national championships.
Stage 2 Result
Geraint Thomas Sky
Javier Moreno Bazan Movistar ST
Ben Hermans Radioshack Leopard ST
Tom-Jelte Slagter Blanco ST
Tim Wellens Lotto-Belisol ST
Standings After Stage 2
General Classification Geraint Thomas Sky 6:19:32
Points Classification Daniele Pietropolli Lampre-Merida 19 pts
Mountains Classification Geraint Thomas Sky 16 pts
Young Rider Classification Tom-Jelte Slagter Blanco 6:19:46
Team Classification Radioshack Leopard 18:59:15
Aggressive Rider Christopher Juul-Jensen Saxo-Tinkoff
Course Map
Race Profile
The race covers the eastern side of France in a clockwise ride. The stages in England are said to fancy the sprinters but there will be some rewards for puncheurs with lumpy stages. A stint in the yellow jersey is also going to ensure a nervy first week as riders fight for position on narrow roads marked on either side by rock fences. 
