Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia defended his race lead in fine style on Thursday, sprinting to a second successive stage victory in the Tour of Ireland.
The 23-year-old Manx man proved too quick for his competitors, hitting the line in Loughrea comfortably clear of Michael Van Staeyen (Rabobank Continental), Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) and the rest of the main bunch.
Ciarán Power was best of the Irish riders in eighth place, the Pezula Racing rider also finishing in the same time as the winner.
The time bonuses saw Cavendish further strengthen his overall lead.
He ended the day 13 seconds clear of Wednesday’s runner-up Julian Dean (Garmin Chipotle) and a further second ahead of Alexander Kristoff (Joker Bianchi), and also took over the lead in the points classification.
He remains Best Young Rider, while Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) stays in the King of the Mountains jersey.
The stage was marked by a very impressive solo move by Swedish national time trial champion Fredrik Ericsson, who attacked alone approximately ten kilometres after the start in Thurles and stayed clear for almost all of the 158-kilometre leg.
He built a maximum lead of six minutes 40 seconds but was finally hauled back with 11 kilometres remaining.
Cavendish’s Columbia team drove the pace to the finish, keeping their man away from two crashes and then setting him up for another sprint victory.
It’s his 15th win of phenomenal season that includes four stage victories on the Tour de France and two in the Giro d’Italia.
From an Irish perspective, Power’s eighth place was the highlight of the day.
National road race champion Daniel Martin was forced to withdraw from the event during the stage; he had been suffering from a virus and had both stomach problems and respiratory congestion as a result.
The 2.1-ranked Tour of Ireland continues on Friday with an undulating 201-kilometre stage from Ballinrobe to Galway.
Stage 2 Thurles – Loughrea:
1 Mark Cavendish (Columbia) in 3 hrs 57 mins 55 secs
2 Michael Van Staeyen (Rabobank Continental)
3 Maximiliano Richeze (CSF Group Navigare)
4 Kenny De Haes (Topsport Vlaanderen)
5 Russel Downing (Pinarello Racing Team)
6 Alexander Kristoff (Joker – Bianchi)
7 Zakkari Dempster (Southaustralia.com – AIS)
8 Ciarán Power (Pezula Racing)
9 Boy Van Poppel (Rabobank)
10 Nikolas Maes (Topsport Vlaanderen) all same time
General classification after stage 2:
1 Mark Cavendish (Columbia) 8 hrs 57 mins 52 secs
2 Julian Dean (Garmin Chipotle - H30) at 13 secs
3 Alexander Kristoff (Joker – Bianchi) at 14 secs
4 Max Richeze (CSF Group Navigare) at 19 secs
5 Matt Wilson (Team Type 1) at 20 secs
6 Juan van Heerden (MTN Energade) at 22 secs
7 Russell Downing (Pinarello CandiTV) at 23 secs
8 Boy Van Poppel (Rabobank)
9 Zakkari Dempster (SouthAustralia.com)
10 Nikolas Maes (Topsport Vlaanderen) all same time
