Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) bounced back from yesterday's defeat at the hands of Bryan Coquard (Europcar) in Estrées-Saint-Denis by grabbing his maiden win at the Tour de Picardie in today's stage to Beaurieux-Chemin des Dames. The young rider from Picardy handily beat Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Shimano) in an uphill sprint, with the Dutchman moving into second place overall. Bryan Coquardflagged towards the end and finished in 52nd place, 10″ behind the winner, falling to fifth in the general classification.

 

Stage 2 of the Tour de Picardie got underway at noon in Mouy. Marie-Laure Coyot was there to pay tribute to her husband Arnaud, who died in a car accident in November. Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme) was as aggressive as yesterday. He went over the Côte de Liancourt (km 9) in first place and was soon joined by Minard, Diller, De Troyer andRossetto. However, the peloton reeled them back in 28 km into the stage. The ¾ headwind during the first hour (44.6 km/h) caused a few splits and falls. Yellow jersey Bryan Coquard was among those who took a tumble, but he emerged unscathed.

 

Today's 15-strong breakaway did not form until km 44. Big names in this group included William Bonnet, Tom Dumoulin, Danilo Napolitano, Gert Steegmans, Björn Leukemansand Julien Duval. The Netherlands' Tom Dumoulin was first over the Côte de Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique (km 95.5) and the Côte de Pargny-Filain (km 119). Meanwhile, BryanCoquard's teammates got to work at the front of the bunch, preventing the gap from ballooning beyond 3′.

 

The margin had fallen to just 1′35″ with 38 km to go, when Leukemans and Duval decided to press on alone. The duo held on to cross the finish line in Beaurieux for the first time (km 144), but the peloton gobbled them up 25 kilometres before the finish. Time for Philippe Gilbert to go on the attack on the Côte du Plateau de Californie (km 153.5), with a vigilant Tom Dumoulin taking second at the top to remain one point clear of Gilbert in the mountains classification.

 

The field had been thinned to just 22 men as a sprint finish loomed with 15 kilometres to go. Things slowed down a bit, giving Alexis Gougeard the chance to launch a solo attack. However, the young AG2R rider's legs failed him and he was caught by the peloton 5 kilometres before the line. Arnaud Démare's teammates gave him a great lead-out in the last kilometre, leaving him to crush Ramon Sinkeldam on the final ramp. The young rider from Picardy struck twice, as he also seized the yellow jersey with 9″ on the Dutchman. Tom Dumoulin pulled on the polka-dot best climber's jersey.