First victory in almost exactly two years for former three-time World time trial champion
Michael Rogers (Team Sky) moved himself into the yellow jersey with his first victory in almost exactly two years, as he took the second stage of the Bayern-Rundfahrt, between Penzberg and Kempten. The former three-time World time trial champion was the fastest of a group of five riders, which had escaped the peloton on the climb of the Knottenried with around 45km to go.
With him in the group were Sky teammate Kanstantsin Siutsou, Vladimir Gusev (Katusha), Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun), and Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack-Nissan), and they managed to open a lead of a minute on the chasing peloton.
Rogers took a tight sprint ahead of Gusev, with Coppel taking third, ahead of Zubeldia and Siutsou. Stage one winner Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) led the peloton home, some 23 seconds later.
"We went into the stage with the plan to heat it up a bit on the climbs,” Rogers explained. “They weren’t super hard but they were solid climbs and we took responsibility. We were able to create an opportunity on the second climb where Kosta [Siutsou] went away and a couple of guys followed him. I followed those guys and before we knew it was had 30 seconds.
"We went full all the way to the finish,” he continued. “Kosta rode really strong all the way which allowed me to conserve energy for the sprint. It was quite close there at the end but I’m certainly really happy to take the win. It’s been a good couple of years since Tour of California when I last took one.
"No matter where it is it’s always a nice feeling and especially in the fashion the team rode today it’s great to finish it off."
With two more road stages and a time trial to come, Rogers hopes to hold on to his lead - in the race won by teammate Geraint Thomas last year - to give him his first stage race victory since the Tour of California in May 2010.
"I’m sure there will be a few surprises tomorrow but I’m quietly confident that with the team we have here can handle anything that the race will throw at us," he continued. "Then I’m sure the general classification will come down to the time trial."
The 195km stage began with a three-man break from Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Karsten Kroon (Saxo Bank) and Christian Mager (Heizomat). They were able to build a maximum lead of five minutes, but were kept under control by Petacchi’s team, until Team Sky began to apply the pressure in the middle of the stage.
They were caught on the Oberellegg climb, with just over 70km to go, and the British team kept the pace high until the next climb, where the winning move was made.
Result stage 2
1. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Sky
2. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team
3. Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
4. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
5. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky
6. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD @ 23s
7. Allan Davis (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
8. John Degenkolb (Ger) Argos-Shimano
9. Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan
10. Tim Declecq (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator
Standings after stage 2
1. Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Sky
2. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team @ 5s
3. Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun @ 9s
4. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky @ 12s
5. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan @ 13s
6. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD @ 26s
7. Allan Davis (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge @ 30s
8. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar @ 31s
9. Markus Fothen (Ger) Team NSP-Ghost @ 33s
10. Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Team NetApp @ 34s