Garmin-Barracuda’s Dutchman wins as his teammates let the door open behind him; Yauheni Hutarovich in yellow on stage finish countback
Michel Kreder (Garmin-Barracuda) was something of a surprise winner of the second stage of the Tour Mediterranéen, between Salon de Provence and Martigues, when the teammates that he was leading out deliberately let him get away in the final kilometre. The 24-year-old – the younger of Garmin-Barracuda’s two Kreder bothers – was at the head of a three-man string, with teammate and elder brother Raymond, and Koldo Fernandez on his wheel as he led the race into the finish.
As he opened a gap on the final bend though, Raymond Kreder deliberately checked his pace, and allowed his younger brother to sprint to the line unopposed.
Behind the lone Garmin-Barracuda rider, Guillame Boivin (Speidertech p/b C10) beat the previous day’s second place Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) in the dash for the line; despite the visible daylight between Kreder and the rest, the peloton was given the same time.
“For me it’s a really important victory,” Kreder told Cyclism’Actu. “Last year, I won the second stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe, and a victory early in the season it is a very good thing for me and for the team. At first, the whole team were working for Fernandez, our sprinter. The objective was for me to lead him out but there were a lot of corners and it was very fast. I turned around and could not see my leader so I took advantage of that and it was enough”.
On another cold day in the south of France, it was not until the 60km mark that Sebastien Turgot (Europcar) and Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun) got away. The duo was soon joined by Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille), and the three of them managed to build a three and a half minute lead over the peloton; led by the Endura Racing team of stage one winner Jonathan Tiernan-Locke.
The breakaway was steadily reeled in by the peloton, with Garmin-Barracuda, FDJ-BigMat, Astana and Europcar all battling for supremacy in the cold crosswinds. As the rear of the peloton began to split, the Garmin-Barracuda team began to set the sprint up for Fernandez, but Kreder’s pace into the final corner saw the Dutchman allowed to get away.
“It was really a team win,” said Kreder. “I was supposed to do the lead-out from 1km to go and I did that with my brother and Koldo [Fernandez] on my wheel. At 700 metres there was a small corner to the left and normally my job [would be] over there, but my brother and Koldo left a gap because I went so fast in the corner.”
“I kept that gap until the finish!!”
Kreder’s victory – and the ten-second time bonus – puts him equal on time with Tiernan-Locke. Hutatovich takes over the race lead however, since he has also accumulated ten seconds bonus with second an third places so far; the Belarusian has been awarded the yellow jersey because of his better consistency.
Result stage 2
1. Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda
2. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech p/b C10
3. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-BigMat
4. Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar
5. Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda
6. Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
7. Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Barracuda
8. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
9. Filippo Fortin (Ita) Team Type 1-Sanofi
10. Benjamin Giraud (Fra) La Pomme Marseille
Standings after stage 2
1. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-BigMat
2. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Endura Racing
3. Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda
4. Guillaume Boivin (Can) Spidertech p/b C10 @ 4s
5. Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Europcar @ 6s
6. Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Barracuda @ 10s
7. Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Barracuda
8. Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana
9. Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne-Schuller
10. Benjamin Giraud (Fra) La Pomme Marseille