Linus Gerdemann gave his Leopard-Trek squad another home win, soloing to take stage two in the Tour of Luxembourg on Friday and earning the overall lead in the process.
Gerdemann won the stage having ridden an aggressive race throughout. The German attacked fellow escapees Anthony Charteau (Europcar) and Jurgen Van Goolen (Veranda's Willems-Accent) on the second of three finishing circuits and the rest of the field didn't see him again.
Frenchman Arthur Vichot (FDJ) was the first of the chase group to follow Gerdemann across the line in Differdange, with Jérémie Galland (Saur-Sojasun) in third.
Britain's Chris Froome (Sky) was part of the chasing group and finished ninth.
Luxembourg-based Leopard-Trek couldn't have hoped for a better performance in its home race, with Fabian Cancellara cruising to win the opening prologue on Wednesday and keeping the leader's jersey until he passed it to Gerdemann on Friday.
Gerdemann leads Alexandre Geniez (Skil-Shimano) by just two seconds in the overall classification. Tony Gallopin (Cofidis) is third, a further second back. Ian Stannard is the top British rider on GC in 20th spot, 1-51 adrift of Gerdemann.
The five-day, UCI 2.HC-category Tour of Luxembourg concludes on Sunday, June 5. Italian Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil) won last year's edition of the race.
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Results
Tour of Luxembourg 2011, stage two: Schifflange to Differdange, 200.7km
1. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard-Trek in 5-16-19
2. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ at 9 secs
3. Jeremie Galland (Fra) Saur-Sojasun
4. Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
5. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis
6. Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis
7. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
8. Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM
9. Chris Froome (GB) Sky
10. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard-Trek at same time
Overall classification after stage two
1. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard-Trek in 10-08-55
2. Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil-Shimano at 2 secs
3. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis at 3 secs
4. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard-Trek at 5 secs
5. Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ at 8 secs
6. Jeremie Galland (Fra) Saur-Sojasun at 10 secs
7. Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Veranda's Willems-Accent at 11 secs
8. Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis at 11 secs
9. Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM at 12 secs
10. Alan Marangoni (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 13 secs
Brit Alex Dowsett during stage two
Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara
Linus Gerdemann's strong solo effort netted him the win
Linus Gerdemann takes the stage and overall lead
Tour of Luxembourg 2011: Related links
Stage one: Galimzyanov defies Sky mass assault
Cancellara wins Luxembourg prologue
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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