2011 Tour De France Stage 2 Results: Alberto Contador Slips Further Down Order

Stage 2 of the 2011 Tour de France was a comparatively short and flat 23-km team time trial around the town of Les Essarts in the Vendee region of France.

Opinion is divided about the inclusion of the time trial. Some argue that it unfairly penalises good riders in weak teams, such as Cadel Evans in 2009, but others argue that it is a great leveler and that stage cycling is a team sport.

Today’s effort saw more pain for pre-race favourite, Alberto Contador, who lost more time to main rivals Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans, losing 23 seconds to the former and 24 seconds to Evans.

It was a largely uneventful stage seeing the Garmin-Cervelo team finish fastest in 24’28” and delivered the yellow jersey to their leader Thor Hushovd who shares the same time as teammate David Millar, with BMC’s Cadel Evans a further second back.

Contador now languishes 1’42” behind the leader and is now facing an almost insurmountable challenge to breach the gap back to the likes of Schleck and Evans, who can now simply cover Contador and not need to attack him for a change.

Tomorrow is back to the individual flat stages, and the opportunity for the fast men to strut their stuff before the race turns hilly in the second week and the genuine contenders come out to play.

The 2011 Tour de France is developing into a fascinating race.

Results of the team time trial
1. TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO        24' 48"  
2. BMC RACING TEAM               + 00' 04"
3. SKY PROCYCLING                 + 00' 04"
4. TEAM LEOPARD-TREK           + 00' 04"
5. HTC - HIGHROAD                   + 00' 05"
6. TEAM RADIOSHACK              + 00' 10"
7. RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM  + 00' 12"
8. SAXO BANK SUNGARD         + 00' 28"
9. PRO TEAM ASTANA              + 00' 32"
10. OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO   + 00' 39"

Individual standings after Stage 2
1. HUSHOVD Thor      TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO     5h 06' 25"  
2. MILLAR David     TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO          + 00' 00"
3. EVANS Cadel         BMC RACING TEAM                 + 00' 01"    
4. THOMAS Geraint     SKY PROCYCLING                  + 00' 04"
5. GERDEMANN Linus     TEAM LEOPARD-TREK       + 00' 04"
6.  SCHLECK Frank     TEAM LEOPARD-TREK           + 00' 04"
7. CANCELLARA Fabian      TEAM LEOPARD-TREK   + 00' 04"
8. HAGEN Edvald       SKY PROCYCLING                   + 00' 04"
9. QUINZIATO Manuel      BMC RACING TEAM            + 00' 04"
10. SCHLECK Andy      TEAM LEOPARD-TREK          + 00' 04"
75. CONTADOR Alberto     SAXO BANK SUNGARD         + 01' 42"