TdF Lanterne Rouge - Stage 2

Yauheni Hutarovich continues to be the Lanterne Rouge at 11'04" back on GC.

There was a sharp right-hand bend with 700m to go where a few riders went down at 65km/hr that he was not involved in. Since the crash happened within the final 3km of the finish, all the riders in the pack were given the same time, except for Hutarovich and Andreas Klier who were 7'14" down on the stage. The pair look to have been lost contact at some point in the final 10km of the stage. They either got dropped or crashed together. My guess is he got dropped and may be ill since his ITT in the prologue was also so poor. He obviously wouldn't have made Francaise de Jeux's team selection and their designated sprinter if he didn't have the form to keep up. We'll see if Hutarovich even continues over the next few days.

Close to everyone's heart in the tour this year is Melbourne local Matty Lloyd who finished 158 on the stage. The ITT isn't his specialty where he finished in 161st yesterday (2'34" down). He's the furthest down Aussie. As you know, he's a climber, not a sprinter and has the single minded task at this years Tour to help Cadel in the mountains. He selflessly doesn't care about his GC or stage position and is swallowing his pride to save every ounce of energy for Cadel later in the race. Let me tell you, Matty is FAST. I've raced against him and he's unbelievable in the hills. Watch out for big things from him in the mountains.

Viva la Lanterne Rouge!