Eneco Tour (st. 2)

Duo of Spaniards ride well through echelons en route to Vlijmen as Dowsett loses handful of seconds before Wednesday's TT in Breda. Stybar (OPQ) takes the lead

It was just six seconds, yet the most veteran riders from the Movistar Team showed their big experience in the first complicated finish of this year’s Eneco Tour. The 175-kilometer stage two from Waalwijk to Vlijmen, in the Dutch Brabant, became filled with tension due to rain, wind a three-man break led by Russian Pavel Brutt (KAT), which forced pretty much everyone to work together.

An elite group of about 25 riders, split formed by Belkin and OPQS which included Pablo Lastras and Iván Gutiérrez, contested the sprint -won by Zdenek Stybar (OPQ)- as the main bunch featuring Alex Dowsett -just missing the cut by few meters- saw the Englishman dropping off the overall top-ten he got in yesterday. José Joaquín Rojas couldn’t contest the sprint either, due to a crash with no further injuries

The Briton will still have a chance to bounce back tomorrow in his main speciality: the individual time trial. A 9.6km course in Breda, with some straights combined with technical sections, will offer the recent Commonwealth Games champion the opportunity to bridge the gap with Stybar, now leading with a one-second gap over Lars Boom (BEL). Iván Gutiérrez is 11th (+10″).