14 DAY TRIAL // Stage 2 of the 2013 Tour stays on the island of Corsica, but the change from yesterday’s action is total as we tackle the first big mountain of the race, which will see the capable climbers test their form and maybe try to get a breakaway win.
Before I actually started the race, I really wanted to get one of my riders in the once again inevitable breakaway in order to get some of the mountain top points offered.
The Polka Dot Jersey, offered to the rider who has the most points gained on mountain tops when The Tour arrives in Paris, is a big target that can be accomplished by a lesser rider, and I planned to use Luxembourg hopeful Didier for this objective.
As any general knows, no plan survives contact with the enemy, in this case the other teams engaged in the race.
A rather strong group of 3 riders formed quickly, while Didier was stuck in the middle of the peloton, and I was forced to send one of my strongmen, Jens Voigt, to the front, in order to try and bring them back.
It seems that the tree riders failed to work together and I managed to reach them before the actual mountains but, when my rider attacked Scarponi and Voekler, two of the most powerful climbers went with him.
With Didier unable to perform as well as expected, I once again worked to bring the escaped riders back, in order to try something on the Category 3 climb close to the finish line.
Once more I failed to get any distance using Andreas Kloden and, late in the race, I once more tried to snatch a surprise win with Cacellara.
Unfortunately, my 30-second advantage was once again nullified by a sprinter, this time Peter Sagan.
Take a look at how the stage played out in PCM 2013 in the video below.
