German squad Nurnberger Versicherrung won the 27km team time trial to put their American World time trial champion Amber Neben in the leader?s jersey.
Columbia-Highroad were on for a hat-trick of stage wins but put in a lacklustre performance to finish fourth. Overnight leader Ina-Yoko Teutenberg reported the squad were tired after Saturday?s long chase of Vision 1?s Vicki Whitelaw that set the German sprinter up for the stage win and gave her the yellow jersey for a day.
Emma Pooley's Cervelo sextet got closest to the winners, just 12 seconds adrift. Team GB?s under-23?s finished 13th and are already two riders down, starting the ten-day event with five and losing Anna Blyth to a bad crash on Saturday.
Vision 1 Team manager Stefan Wyman was happy with their 11th place and Vision 1?s performance in the opening stages.
?Vicki Whitelaw was away for nearly 100km on Saturday. She had a bad 5km near the end, but she did well, and she got us two jerseys,? said Wyman.
Whitelaw currently leads both the mountain and intermediate sprint competitions, with the sprint jersey being worn by team-mate Christel Ferrier-Bruneau.
Monday?s stage is a relatively flat 116km ?similar to Saturday on paper,? says Wyman. ?There is only one 404m climb, but we have been lucky with the weather so far. If it is windy, it could be another matter.?
RESULTS Stage 2 - 27km team time trial, Port-la-Nouvelle
1. Equipe Nurnberger Versicherung 35.07 (46.13 km/h)
2. Cervelo at 12secs
3. Flexpoint at 22secs
4. Columbia Highroad
5. DSB Bank at 1min 27secs
6. Gauss Rdz Ormu-Colnago at 1 min 49secs
7. Bigla at 2mins 03secs
8. Red Sun at 2mins 24secs
9. Holland at 2mins 25secs
10. Canadian National Team at 2mins 29secs
11. Vision 1 Racing at 2mins 35secs
12. Vienne Futuroscope at 2mins 39secs
13. British National Team
14. Fenixs at 2mins 56secs
15. Lotto-Belisol at 2mins 57secs
16. Esgl93-Gsd Gestion at 3mins 15secs
17. Selle Italia Guezzi at 3mins 20secs
18. German National Team at 3mins 27secs
Overall classification after stage two
1. Amber Neben (USA) Nurnberger Versicherung 3.46.36
2. Trixi Worrack (Ger) Equipe Nurnberger Versicherung at 8secs
3. Regina Bruins (Ned) Cervelo at 9secs
4. Charlotte Becker (Ger) Nurnberger Versicherung
5. Madeleine Sandig (Ger) Nurnberger Versicherung at 11secs
6. Kristin Armstrong (USA) Cervelo at 12 secs
7. Ina Teutenberg (Ger) Columbia Highroad
8. Linda Villumsen (Ger) Columbia Highroad at 19secs
9. Eva Lutz (Ger) Nurnberger Versicherung at 20secs
10. Claudia Hausler (Ger) Cervelo at 22secs
Other
11. Emma Pooley (GBr) Cervelo at 22secs
36. Nicole Cooke (GBr) Vision 1 Racing at 1min 38secs
41. Nikki Harris (GBr) GB at 1min 49secs
49. Helen Wyman (GBr) Vision 1 Racing at 1min 55secs
50. Katie Colclough (GBr) GB at 1min 58secs
52. Lucy Martin (GBr) GB at 2mins 1sec
54. Elisabeth Armitstead (GBr) GB at 2mins 3secs
58. Alexandra Greenfield (GBr) GB at 2mins 13secs
64. Leda Cox (GBr) Esgl93-Gsd Gestion at 2mins 18secs
73. Emma Silversides (GBr) Lotto-Belisol at 2mins 52secs
103. Gabriella Day (GBr) Vision 1 Racing at 15mins 51secs
RELATED LINKS
Tour de l?Aude Preview
Tour de l?Aude prologue
Tour de l?Aude: Stage 1
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