Stage 2

Stage 2 - Calais to Anvers 07.09.01 On the day the Tour de France came to Belgium, Rabobank's Marc Wauters delivered the best possible result for the hundreds of thousands of fans who lined the roadside. The only quandry for the Belgian native on the night of the third stage will be what to toast first: the stage win? The fact that he will wear the yellow jersey for the third stage? ...or the fact that his stage-winning effort today also yielded the reward of a diamond valued at one-million Belgian Francs (USD $21,000). When the Tour comes to Belgium, it's the locals who seem to benefit the most. For it was another Belgian, the current US Postal director Johan Bruyneel, who won the last Belgian stage of the Tour de France (in Liege, back in 1995) and also inherited the yellow jersey of race leader. This year, however, it's Wauters who earned all the plaudits. With 20km to race he and his team-mate, Erik Dekker, opted to chase down a four-man break. The sprint teams were setting a tempo in pursuit of four opportunists - Jens Voigt, Matteo Fruiti, Servais Knaven and, the tag-along figure of Paul van Hyfte (who joined the break only after having set off on a solo parade as the Tour passed through his home town). But the chase wasn't moving fast enough. With 15km to race, Dekker and Wauters reeled in their leaders and, together with 10 others formed a group of 16 - including Wauters, Dekker and four Credit Agricole riders - and together they realized that cooperation up front would yield the reward of contesting a finish without the stress of a massive pack. They worked well together right through to the final kilometer. As soon as they passed under the 1km to go banner, Wauters jumped. He tried a similar move in the stage to Tours last year (when his team-mate, Leon van Bon took the spoils), but this year his gamble paid massive dividends. Wauters began the day in 12th place overall only 15 seconds shy of Christophe Moreau's overall lead. He ended the stage by claiming the stage win - after holding off the charge of Credit Agricole's Stuart O'Grady and his three team-mates - and, with the benefit of the 20-second time bonus muscled his way into the golden glow of the race leader's jersey. All eyes were focussed on O'Grady, who began the day in eighth place (11 seconds behind Moreau), and only when the Wauters rose to salute the enormous Antwerpen crowd did it become apparent that his final kilometer blitz would be enough to relegate the Australian sprinter into second overall, 12 second behind the day's victor. The third stage gives Wauters the opportunity to ride from Flanders (and through his hometown of Lemen, where his wife and kids will be watching) and onward into the Belgian Ardennes with the yellow jersey on his back: a nice touch for Tour history. And while Wauters' efforts were certainly the main story of the day, there were others in the select cluster at the finish who can also gloat about their achievements. Robbie Hunter, the first South African to ride the Tour, worked his way to an impressive third-place in the sprint after a manic chase of Wauters. O'Grady, on the other hand, must confess to botching a golden opportunity; despite his high placing at the start of the day - and the help of three team-mates in the final charge - he finished fifth in the stage, second in the overall classification and second in the green jersey competition.