Image 1 of 8 Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) win stage two at the Tour of Beijing (Image credit: AFP) Image 2 of 8 The chasers were unable to catch Tony Martin (Image credit: Graham Watson) Image 3 of 8 Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) wins alone (Image credit: Graham Watson) Image 4 of 8 The Tour of Beijing headed into the hills on stage 2 (Image credit: Graham Watson) Image 5 of 8 Tony Martin time trials to victory (Image credit: Graham Watson) Image 6 of 8 Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) on the podium after winning stage 2 at the Tour of Beijing (Image credit: AFP) Image 7 of 8 Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) leads the break (Image credit: AFP) Image 8 of 8 A Chinese fan cheers on the riders (Image credit: AFP)

Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) took a potentially decisive step towards retaining his Tour of Beijing title when he soloed to victory on stage two to Mentougou, taking a firm grasp of the overall standings in the process.

On a short but rugged stage that saw the peloton skirt the Xi Mountains before looping back towards Mentougou, Martin rolled with the punches that were dealt on the day’s three categorised climbs before delivering a hammer blow of his own at the top of the final descent to win by 46 seconds.

Martin had been off the front of the race since the spectacular first category climb of Mapaoquan at the midway point, when Dan Martin’s (Garmin-Sharp) forcing helped an elite 12-man group go clear, with Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) among those aboard.

Their lead fluctuated around the minute mark for much of the remainder of the stage, and while a flurry of attacks on the final climb to Dong Fang Tunnel fractured the break’s unity, they remained together until Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank) led them over the summit with 25km still to race. At the top of the descent, Tony Martin drifted to the front, and when a small gap opened behind him after the first couple of bends, he didn’t need a second invitation to open the throttle.

“In the end, there was a descent with a lot of corners and suddenly there was a gap behind me to the other guys,” Martin said matter-of-factly. “I knew there were only about 20km to the finish at that point, so I decided to try and take my chance.”

Easier said than done, but then after a difficult opening to the season, Martin has regained the vim and vigour of 2011 in the closing months of the campaign. His morale on a high after retaining his world time trial crown in Valkenburg last month, Martin simply put his head down on the sinuous descent, reasoning that the chasers behind would struggle to organise the pursuit.

“When there’s one guy in front, sometimes everyone behind just looks at each other instead of working together,” he said. “They don’t know if they should chase or if they should try to save themselves for their own chances later on. I could just go full gas as I’m in really good shape.”

Already at full gas, Martin seemed to open the after-burners on the flat run-in to the finish in Mentougou, where even a brisk headwind couldn’t halt his progress and his lead began to stretch out beyond 30 seconds. His erstwhile breakaway companions’ attentions were already switching from the lost cause ahead of them to a larger group of chasers behind. Such was Martin’s ease, meanwhile, he even had time to salute the television cameras during his final cruise to the finish line.

When the chasers reached the finishing straight, the two groups had almost merged. Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) and Eros Capecchi (Liquigas-Cannondale) were among those to make the juncture before the line, and the Italian pair duly took the sprint for second and third behind Martin.

By that point, Martin had already accepted the congratulations of his manager Patrick Lefevere, a late arrival in China, and was making his way towards the podium to take possession of the red jersey. With an overall lead of 50 seconds, the German finds himself in a powerful position. “It’s good to have a gap of almost one minute now as tomorrow is a hard uphill finish,” he warned. The Great Wall awaits.

Houanard

The atmosphere at the beginning of the stage was tempered by the overnight news that Steve Houanard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) had returned a positive test for EPO before travelling to the Tour of Beijing. Houanard had been shepherded to the airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning – though not before insisting to his directeurs sportifs that he was innocent – and his teammates were only informed of the matter when they awoke at 7am.

Once the racing began, a five-man break featuring Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar), Maxim Belkov (Katusha), David Tanner (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) and Mathias Frank (BMC) went clear. The quintet opened up a lead of over three minutes at one point, but with Euskaltel-Euskadi leading the pursuit, the peloton was within sight by the time they reached the day’s first climb.

The trek to Mapaoquan provides a hauntingly beautiful backdrop, with the distant skyscrapers of Beijing gradually all but disappearing from sight as the road pitches upwards. The 10 kilometre pass was worthy of any race, but it was jarring that there were just two spectators on the roadside on the way up the climb, with a just another smattering of hardy souls near the summit.

But while there may not have been an audience on hand to witness it, the peloton put on a spectacle on the way up the climb, with the Garmin-Sharp pair of Hesjedal and Dan Martin seizing the initiative, bringing Anton, Samuel Sanchez, Gork Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Tony Martin, Kruijswijk, Rui Cosa (Movistar), Sylvain Georges and Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale) with them, while Tanner, Frank and Garate survived from the day’s initial break.

Dan Martin led over the summit and repeated the feat over the 3rd category Gao Ya Kou to take control of the king of the mountains classification. Both the Irishman and his teammate Hesjedal would later be among the attackers to force their way clear on the final climb, but nobody was able break the deadlock. Instead, the stage was set for Tony Martin, who used his guile to sniff out an opportunity and then brute force to ensure he made it count.

“If there is no time trial, you have to do your own one,” he said. “I had a very, very small chance today but I took it."

Full Results 1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 2:53:05 2 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:46 3 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 4 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 5 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 7 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 9 David Tanner (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:00:50 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 12 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 13 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 14 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 15 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 16 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 17 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 18 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 19 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 20 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 21 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 22 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 23 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 24 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 25 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:02:53 26 Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan 27 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 28 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 29 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 30 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 31 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:02:56 32 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 33 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 34 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 35 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 36 Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 37 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 38 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 39 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD 40 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 41 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 42 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 43 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ-Big Mat 44 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling 45 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 46 Craig Lewis (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 47 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin - Sharp 48 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 49 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 50 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 51 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team 52 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 53 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Movistar Team 54 Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha Team 55 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha Team 56 George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 57 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:03:07 58 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:06:33 59 Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 60 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 61 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 62 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 63 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 64 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:58 65 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:09:06 66 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 67 Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 68 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling 69 Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 70 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 71 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 72 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 73 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 74 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin - Sharp 75 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 76 Javier Iriarte (Spa) Movistar Team 77 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 78 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin - Sharp 79 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin - Sharp 80 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Lotto Belisol Team 0:13:13 81 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 82 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 83 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 84 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 85 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 86 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 87 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 88 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 89 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 90 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 91 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 92 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 93 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 94 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 95 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 96 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 97 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 98 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 99 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 100 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 101 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 102 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-Big Mat 103 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 104 Gang Xu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 105 Pengda Jiao (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 106 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team 107 Tiziano Dall'antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 108 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre - ISD 109 Theo Bos (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 110 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team 111 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD 112 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre - ISD 113 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre - ISD 114 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 115 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 116 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling 117 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 118 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 119 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katusha Team 120 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 121 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling 122 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team 123 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 124 Clinton Robert Avery (NZl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 125 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 126 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 127 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 128 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 129 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha Team 130 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha Team 131 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 132 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team 133 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 134 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Sharp 135 Joost Van Leijen (Ned) Lotto Belisol Team 136 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:15:41 137 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 138 Biao Liu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:21:31 139 Kun Jiang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team HD Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team DNS Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team DNS Steve Houanard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

Points 1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 15 pts 2 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 14 3 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 13 4 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 12 5 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 11 6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 10 7 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 9 8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 8 9 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 7 10 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 6 11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 5 12 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 4 13 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 3 14 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 2 15 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 1

Sprint 1 - Bei Qing Road, 22km 1 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 5 pts 2 Kun Jiang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 3 3 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2 4 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 1

Sprint 2 - Xi Feng Shan Junction, 47km 1 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 5 pts 2 David Tanner (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3 3 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha Team 2 4 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 1

Mountain 1 - Gao Ya Kou (Cat. 1) 63km 1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 12 pts 2 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 8 3 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 6 4 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 4 5 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 2

Mountain 2 - Summit 2 (Cat. 3) 76.6km 1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 5 pts 2 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 3 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 4 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1

Mountain 3 - Dong Fang Hong Tunnel (Cat. 2) 100km 1 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 8 pts 2 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 6 3 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 4 4 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2 5 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1

Young riders 1 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:53:51 2 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:04 4 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 5 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:07 6 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 7 Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:02:10 8 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 9 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling 10 George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 11 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:02:21 12 Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:05:47 13 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 14 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:08:20 15 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 16 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 17 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 18 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 19 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin - Sharp 20 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:12:27 21 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 22 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 23 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 24 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 25 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre - ISD 26 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 27 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 28 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 29 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling 30 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team 31 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 32 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha Team 33 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha Team 34 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 35 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:14:55 36 Biao Liu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:20:45

Teams 1 Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 8:43:44 2 Astana Pro Team 0:00:03 3 Liquigas-Cannondale 4 AG2R La Mondiale 5 Garmin - Sharp 6 RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:04 7 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:00:07 8 Movistar Team 9 Orica GreenEdge 0:02:07 10 BMC Racing Team 0:02:10 11 Rabobank Cycling Team 0:03:40 12 Katusha Team 0:04:19 13 Lampre - ISD 0:04:27 14 Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:07:33 15 FDJ-Big Mat 0:07:56 16 Lotto Belisol Team 0:08:23 17 Sky Procycling 18 Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:09:23 19 Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:14:36

General classification after stage 2 1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 5:30:44 2 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:50 3 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:52 4 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 0:00:56 5 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 6 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 7 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 9 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:01:00 10 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 11 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 12 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 13 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 14 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 15 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 16 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 17 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 18 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:05 19 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:06 20 David Tanner (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:07 21 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:01:09 22 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 23 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan 24 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 25 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:03:00 26 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:03:02 27 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:03:03 28 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 29 Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:03:06 30 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 31 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 32 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 33 Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan 0:03:12 34 Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 35 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 36 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 37 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:03:14 38 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:03:15 39 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 40 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 41 Christian Meier (Can) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 42 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 43 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ-Big Mat 44 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 45 George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 46 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team 47 Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha Team 48 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 49 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 50 Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 51 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling 52 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin - Sharp 53 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Movistar Team 54 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team 55 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:27 56 Craig Lewis (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:03:43 57 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:05:01 58 Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:06:43 59 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 60 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:06:52 61 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 62 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:07:46 63 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:08:16 64 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:19 65 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:09:16 66 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 67 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 68 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:09:25 69 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Garmin - Sharp 70 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 71 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 72 Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 73 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 74 Javier Iriarte (Spa) Movistar Team 75 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 76 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin - Sharp 77 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling 78 Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 79 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin - Sharp 80 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:13:13 81 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:13:17 82 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:13:23 83 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 84 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 85 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 86 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 87 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 88 Theo Bos (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 89 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 90 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 91 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team 92 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 93 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 94 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Sharp 95 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-Big Mat 96 Tiziano Dall'antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 97 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 98 Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling 99 Clinton Robert Avery (NZl) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 100 Timofey Kritskiy (Rus) Katusha Team 101 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre - ISD 102 Joost Van Leijen (Ned) Lotto Belisol Team 103 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha Team 104 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha Team 105 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:13:29 106 Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:13:32 107 Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 108 Pengda Jiao (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 109 Mehdi Sohrabi (IRI) Lotto Belisol Team 110 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 111 Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 112 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team 113 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 114 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling 115 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 116 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 117 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC Racing Team 118 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 119 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre - ISD 120 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 121 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre - ISD 122 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 123 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team 124 Gang Xu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 125 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre - ISD 126 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 127 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 128 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:13:44 129 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:14:08 130 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:14:20 131 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:14:29 132 Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 133 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:14:56 134 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:15:04 135 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:15:07 136 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:16:12 137 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:16:38 138 Kun Jiang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:21:48 139 Biao Liu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:23:16

Points classification 1 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 15 pts 2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 15 3 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 14 4 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 14 5 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 13 6 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 13 7 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 12 8 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 12 9 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 11 10 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team 11 11 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 10 12 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 10 13 Theo Bos (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 10 14 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 9 15 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 9 16 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 8 17 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin - Sharp 7 18 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD 7 19 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 6 20 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 6 21 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 5 22 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 5 23 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 5 24 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 5 25 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 5 26 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 5 27 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 4 28 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 4 29 David Tanner (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 3 30 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 3 31 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team 3 32 Kun Jiang (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 3 33 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 2 34 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 2 35 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 2 36 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 2 37 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha Team 2 38 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 1 39 Craig Lewis (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 1 40 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 1 41 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin - Sharp 1

Mountains classification 1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp 17 pts 2 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 10 3 Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 9 4 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 8 5 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team 6 6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 4 7 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 8 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 2 9 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Sharp 2 10 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 2 11 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1

Young riders classification 1 Rafal Majka (Pol) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 5:31:40 2 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:00:04 3 Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:09 4 Moreno Moser (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:00:13 5 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:10 6 Leigh Howard (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:02:16 7 Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team 8 George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 0:02:19 9 Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 10 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling 11 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:04:05 12 Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan 0:05:47 13 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:05:56 14 Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan 0:08:20 15 Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 16 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:08:29 17 Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 18 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Sky Procycling 19 Alex Howes (USA) Garmin - Sharp 20 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:12:17 21 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:12:21 22 Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:12:27 23 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team 24 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 25 Alexey Tsatevich (Rus) Katusha Team 26 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team 27 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha Team 28 Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha Team 29 Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:12:33 30 Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:12:36 31 Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling 32 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre - ISD 33 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:13:24 34 Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:14:11 35 Daniele Ratto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:15:42 36 Biao Liu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team 0:22:20