RACE REPORTS: DAUPHINE-LIBERE, STAGE 2

RACE REPORTS: DAUPHINE-LIBERE, STAGE 2
Road Bike Action & AFP
June 5, 2012

                              It's only June and already Bradley Wiggins is in yellow!
                                              Photo: ASO/P.Perreve

Spaniard Daniel Moreno of the Katusha team won the second stage of the Dauphine Libere on Tuesday as Britain's Bradley Wiggins held onto the overall race lead. Moreno won an uphill sprint for the line ahead of French pair Julien Simon and Tony Gallopin after 160km of racing through the eastern Ardennes.

   Sky's Wiggins finished ninth with the same time as Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, who crossed in seventh, and the British rider leads the Australian in the overall standings by just one second.

   "We knew that the course was complicated at the beginning and our aim was to make the race difficult from the start," said Wiggins. "Once again, the team did a fantastic job all day and, for me, it was much easier. You have to both defend the jersey, which is a question of respect, and preserve your strength. The finish was very eventful and it's good to have got through it unscathed."

   Moreno, 30, won a stage on the Tour of Spain last year and said he had thrived on Tuesday in the absence of team-mate Joaquim Rodriguez.

"When Purito (Rodriguez) is not there I have more responsibility, especially on this kind of finish," he said. "I started to go for it a long way out and I think I surprised my rivals."

   Simon, of the Saur-Sojasun team, said Moreno had judged things perfectly. "I was perhaps a bit far off when it came to the sprint and I couldn't rein in Moreno, who had anticipated things well," he said.

   Wednesday's third stage covers 167km from Givors to La Clayette.

RESULTS:
   Stage
   1. Daniel Moreno (ESP/KAT) 4hr 02min 38sec, 2. Julien Simon (FRA/SAU) same time, 3. Tony Gallopin (FRA/RSH) s.t., 4. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) s.t., 5. Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL/LTB) s.t., 6. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) s.t., 7. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) s.t., 8. Janez Brajkovic (SLO/AST) s.t., 9. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY) s.t., 10. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) s.t., 11. Tony Martin (GER/OPQ) s.t., 12. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) s.t.,13. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) s.t., 14. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) s.t., 15. Chris Froome (GBR/SKY) s.t.

   Overall:
   1. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/SKY) 8:45.42, 2. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) at 0:01, 3. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 0:02, 4. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) 0:02, 5. Tony Martin (GER/OPQ) 0:04, 6. Paul Martens (GER/RAB) 0:04, 7. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/OPQ) 0:05, 8. Jerome Coppel (FRA/SAU) 0:06, 9. Andrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 0:06, 10. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) 0:07, 11. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 0:08, 12. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 0:09, 13. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) 0:09, 14. Bram Tankink (NED/RAB) 0:09, 15. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:09, 16. Michael Rogers
(AUS/SKY) 0:09, 17. Juergen Van den Broeck (BEL/LTB) 0:10, 18. Pieter Weening (NED/GEC) 0:11, 19. Tony Gallopin (FRA/RSH) 0:12, 20. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/BMC) 0:12.