Eneco Tour: Zdenek Stybar sprints to stage two win in Holland

Zdenek Stybar powered to victory on stage two of the Eneco Tour with a well-timed sprint into Vlijmen.

Stybar found himself on the right side of a 25-man split after a crash on a roundabout caused chaos with 8km to go, and then chipped off the front with three further riders as the race passed under the flamme rouge.  

The Czech champion latched onto Bauke Mollema’s wheel when he overtook the quartet on the exposed drag to the finish, and then rounded his rival before holding off Belkin duo Lars Boom and Sep Vanmarcke in a flat-out dash for the line.

Bonus seconds saw Stybar leap to the top of the overall standings, where he now holds a one-second advantage over the industrious Boom. Overnight leader Andrea Guardini, meanwhile, dropped back after finishing 14 seconds off the pace.

Changeable conditions again greeted the riders as they departed Waalwijk at the start of the day, and it was the trio of Kevin van Melsen, Pavel Brutt and Alexis Gougeard who made tracks early on.

Omega Pharma – Quick-Step were among the teams who initially kept them in check, but to the surprise of many, the three escapees still held an advantage of four minutes heading inside the final 30km, causing alarm bells to ring in the peloton.

Hard riding from Garmin-Sharp and Belkin in the closing stages ultimately brought the trio back with 4.7km to go, and by that point the decisive split had already occurred which saw Stybar emerge for his second win of the season.

Stage Two result

1 - Zdenek Štybar (CZE) - Omega Pharma - Quick-Step - (4:06:15)
2 - Lars Boom (NED) - Belkin - (+0)
3 - Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) - Belkin - (+0)
4 - Marco Marcato (ITA) - Cannondale - (+0)
5 - Manuel Quinziato (ITA) - BMC Racing - (+0)
6 - Roy Jans (BEL) - Wanty - (+0)
7 - Davide Appollonio (ITA) - AG2R - (+0)
8 - Bauke Mollema (NED) - Belkin - (+0)
9 - Julien Vermote (BEL) - Omega Pharma - Quick-Step - (+0)
10 - Stig Broeckx (BEL) - Lotto - (+0)

General Classification

1 - Zdenek Štybar (CZE) - Omega Pharma - Quick-Step - (8:20:39)
2 - Lars Boom (NED) - Belkin - (+1)
3 - Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) - Belkin - (+6)
4 - Pavel Brutt (RUS) - Katyusha - (+7)
5 - Philippe Gilbert (BEL) - BMC Racing - (+9)
6 - Marco Marcato (ITA) - Cannondale - (+10)
7 - Nikolai Trussov (RUS) - Tinkoff - Saxo - (+10)
8 - Roy Jans (BEL) - Wanty - (+10)
9 - Aidis Kruopis (LTU) - Orica - (+10)
10 - Jens Keukeleire (BEL) - Orica - (+10)