The second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné included two categorized climbs in the first half; while the second half featured a fairly flat run toward the finish in Villars-les-Dombres. Pundits projected a field sprint, and the peloton delivered. Ramunas Navardauskas sprinted in for eighth place.

“I was looking for a good spot in the last ten kilometers,” said Navardauskas. “I had to wait until the last moment to pass some of the sprinter’s team’s lead-out riders, but I was happy with my sprint.”

Finishing on bunch time on two consecutive stages and on the top ten today, Navardauskas moved up to ninth overall ahead of Tuesday’s team time trial. Cannondale-Garmin team leaders Dan Martin and Andrew Talanksy finished safely in the peloton on Monday with their overall ambitions intact.

“We rode very well for Andrew and Dan today,” said sport director Andreas Klier. “We had one eye on the TTT tomorrow.”

A three-man escape group broke clear from the peloton in the opening kilometers of stage two.

“It was a slow start but difficult,” Klier noted. “Only three went away, and the sprint teams controlled with Team Sky.”

The trio stretched their advantage to nearly seven minutes by the time the hit the first-category climb of the Col de Cuvéry, the second of two climbs served up by race organizers on Monday. By the time the break had reached the summit, the peloton had bridged the gap by around one minute.

“The beginning was hard from the start with the climb right away, and then it was a steady pace all day,” noted Navardauskas. “The last 80km was flat, which meant we could recover.”

Cofidis and Lampre-Merida assumed responsibility for the chase as the road flattened. The peloton overtook the leaders in the final three kilometers.

“There was a lot of wind in the last 30 kilometers but Sebastian [Langeveld] knows how to ride in the wind very well,” explained Klier “He was the captain today and everyone followed his direction.”

Tuesday’s team time trial is a 24.5km test between Roanne and Montagny.