Tyler Farrar won the second stage of the Circuit France-Belge, after already prevailing on day one. Farrar took the bunch sprint in Poperinge, ahead of Alexandre Usov and Jimmy Casper. With his 10th win of the season Farrar ensured he still leads the overall, by 12 seconds over Kris Boeckmans.
Stage two was a breeze for the Garmin rider. “Today’s sprint suited me a bit better than yesterday’s. On stage one it was slightly downhill in the end and it was very difficult to control. Today, the finish was wide and flat – ideal for true sprinters,” Farrar told Sporzan after the race.
Farrar was thankful for other teams to step in for the final. “The guys from Française des Jeux launched the sprint with 500m to go. I was able to come out from behind Sébastien Chavanel’s wheel and then I gave it all.”
Asked if he thought he could run away with the overall victory, Farrar was cautious. “We will see Sunday.”
Farrar also leads the sprints classification, while Wim de Vocht stayed in the first in the KOM competition.
The first part of the race dominated by the break of Lloyd Mondory, Romain Mathéou, Kris Boeckmans and Kevin van Melsen. Their maximum advantage was over 12 minutes (km 65). They were caught with less than 20km to go, under the strong work of the Garmin team.
A large group of 14 tried a desperate move, but was brought back with four kilometers to go.
On Saturday, the third stage runs between Antoing and Ichtegem, 178km long.