John Degenkolb (HTC) has won Stage 2 of the Dauphine Libere. The neo- pro took a bunch sprint to snare the rolling, 179-km run from Voiron to Lyon in 4:02:39. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) finished second, and Sebastien Hinault (Ag2r) took third. Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) remains the overall leader.

Rain greeted the riders at the start. At 10 km, Jurgen Van de Walle (Omega Pharma), Brice Feillu (Leopard), and Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) sallied off of the front. The peloton kept the trio on a short leash, and the fugitives' lead maxed out at 40 km. For the next 80 km, the escapees' advantage would be between 3:35 and 4:30. 

After 120 km, the pursuit became serious. With 25 km left, the break's lead was about 1:00. Five km later, the wind split the peloton. 

Vinokourov was in the first group, but Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC) were in the second group and chased for 10 km to get back on. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), punctured and lost 4:31 and any chance of being a contender in the overall.

On the uphill run to the finish, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) attacked. Dumoulin's teammates closed the gap, but the Cofidis man made the mistake of leading out the sprint. Degenkolb came around the Frenchman for the fifth win of his rookie season. 

In the overall, Vinokourov leads Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma) by 0:11 and Wiggins by the same margin. Stage 3 will shake up the standings. The stage will be a hilly, 42.5-km time trial in Grenoble. Who will triumph? Vinokourov? Wiggins? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!