Stage 2 of the Tour of Ireland saw a sprint finish again and Columbia rider Mark Cavendish again showed why he s rapidly becoming the man to beat in the pro peloton.Cavendish also retained the best young rider jersey and added the points leaders jersey to that haul.  While its likely he will loose the yellow jersey on Fridays stage, he should carry the points jersey to the finish line.  The day featured an attempted break away by Swedish National Champ Fredrik Ericsson of Irish team Pezula Racing who made it to 11 km from the line before being swallowed up. That’s 137km on his own.  Undeterred Pezula have reacted by saying they are after a stage win and will keep trying.

Unfortunately Irish GC hope Dan Martin of the Garmin-Chipotle team was forced to withdraw from the race during the stage, still suffering from the after effects of food poisoning.  Ciaran Power is now firmly flying the Irish flag with an 8th place on the stage and 12th overall on GC, 23 seconds of the lead.

Expect fireworks on Friday’s stage as the field look to shake things up.

Stage Results

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia                                                 3.57.55
2 Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Rabobank Continental
3 Maximiliano Richeze Ariel (Arg) CSF Group Navigare
4 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
5 Russel Downing (GBr) Pinarello Racing Team
6 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker - Bianchi
7 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com - AIS
8 Ciarán Power (Irl) Pezula Racing
9 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental
10 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
11 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello Racing Team
12 Mauro Abel Richeze (Arg) CSF Group Navigare
13 Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1
14 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha Condor - Recycling.co.uk
15 Joachim Bøhler (Nor) Joker - Bianchi
16 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) Team MTN
17 Juan Francisco Mourón Doldán (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia
18 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1
19 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
20 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team     

General classification after stage 2
 
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia                                                 8.57.52
2 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                                        0.13
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker - Bianchi                                              0.14
4 Maximiliano Richeze Ariel (Arg) CSF Group Navigare                                    0.19
5 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1                                                      0.20
6 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) Team MTN                                                       0.22
7 Russel Downing (GBr) Pinarello Racing Team                                            0.23
8 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental
9 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com - AIS
10 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
11 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha Condor - Recycling.co.uk
12 Ciarán Power (Irl) Pezula Racing
13 Malcolm Elliott (GBr) Pinarello Racing Team
14 Juan Francisco Mourón Doldán (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia
15 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Team Type 1
16 Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) Team Type 1
17 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team
18 Massimo Graziato (Ita) Tinkoff Credit Systems
19 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
20 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                  

31 Stephen Gallagher (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team         

37 Mark Cassidy (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team              

45 Roger Aiken (Irl) Irish National Team                                                    

59 David McCann (Irl) Irish National Team                                               1.56

77 Paidi O'Brien (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team             

89 Andrew Roche (Irl) Pinarello Racing Team
90 David O'Loughlin (Irl) Pezula Racing                                                13.34
91 Paul Healion (Irl) Irish National Team
92 Sean Lacey (Irl) Irish National Team                                                     

94 Paul Griffin (Irl) Irish National Team                                              15.22
95 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Pezula Racing                                                   16.35
96 Miceal Concannon (Irl) Irish National Team                                          16.38

104 Stephen O'Sullivan (Irl) Irish National Team                                       25.13

Points classification
 
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia                                                      37 pts
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker - Bianchi                                                32
3 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30                                          21
4 Russel Downing (GBr) Pinarello Racing Team                                              21
5 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                               19
6 Fredrik Ericsson (Swe) Pezula Racing                                                    15
7 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com - AIS                                         15
8 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                                  14
9 Michael Van Staeyen (Bel) Rabobank Continental                                          14
10 Maximiliano Richeze Ariel (Arg) CSF Group Navigare                                     13
11 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha Condor - Recycling.co.uk                                      13
12 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                                12
13 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team      10
14 Ciarán Power (Irl) Pezula Racing                                                        8
15 Kurt Hovelijnck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                               7

Mountains classification
 
1 Matthew Wilson (Aus) Team Type 1                                                        39 pts
2 Travis Meyer (Aus) Southaustralia.com - AIS                                             21
3 David George (RSA) Team MTN                                                             13
4 Fredrik Ericsson (Swe) Pezula Racing                                                    12
5 Johan Coenen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen                                                  10
6 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Columbia                                                       8
7 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Pezula Racing                                                        8
8 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia                                                       4
9 Mark Cassidy (Irl) An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team              4
10 Moises Aldape Chavez (Mex) Team Type 1                                                  3

Young rider classification
 
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia                                                 8.57.52
2 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Joker - Bianchi                                              0.14
3 Juan Van Heerden (RSA) Team MTN                                                       0.22
4 Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Rabobank Continental                                             0.23
5 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Southaustralia.com - AIS                                         

Teams classification
 
1 Topsport Vlaanderen                                                               26.54.45
2 CSF Group Navigare
3 Pinarello CandiTV
4 Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
5 Garmin Chipotle H30
6 Rabobank
7 Team Type 1 Cycling Team
8 Team Columbia
9 Joker Bianchi Team
10 Karpin Galicia Cycling Team
11 SouthAustralia.com/AIS
12 An Post Sean Kelly Team
13 Tinkoff - Credit Systems
14 MTN Energade
15 Pezula                                                                               9.40
16 Irish National Team                                                                 11.13