Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) has taken Stage 2 of the Dauphine Libere. Bouhanni won a bunch sprint to snare the rugged, 173-km ride from Le Bourget-du-Lac to Villars des Dombes in 4:23:46. Samuel Dumoulin (Ag2r-La Mondiale) finished second, and Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida) finished third. Peter Kennaugh (Sky) remains the maillot jaune.

The stage began with an ascent of the Category 2 Col du Chat. Arnaud Corteille (FDJ) attacked, and Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Daniel Teklehaimanot (MTN-Qhubeka) followed. The trio’s advantage maxed out at 6:57 at 57 km.

Cofidis and Lampre-Merida went to the front to chase as the peloton reached the day’s major difficulty, the Category 1 Col de Cuvery. By the time the escapees had reached the summit, the bunch had taken a minute out of the break.

From the top of the Cuvery (74 km), the stage was a run to the finish that was partially downhill and partially flat. With 80 km remaining, a crash took down Laurent Pichon (FDJ), Alessandro Vanotti (Astana), and Stephen Cummings (MTN-Qhubeka). Pichon abandoned. Later, another crash forced Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) to chase to get back on. The Spaniard lost 1:10.

With 15 km to go, the gap between bunch and break was 1:15. Twelve km later, the catch was made.

MTN-Qhubeka led the field into the last km. A crash took down Wilco Keldeman (LottoNL-Jumbo). Bouhanni jumped with 200 m remaining and held off Dumoulin and Modolo. Dumoulin’s finish deprived Modolo of bonus seconds that would have given him the race lead.

In the overall, Kennaugh leads Modolo and Bouhanni by 0:02. Stage 3 will be a 24.5-km team time trial from Roanne to Montagny. The stage will produce a shakeup. Who will win? Sky? BMC? Etixx-Quick Step? Movistar? Cannondale-Garmin? Check in at www.roadcycling.com and find out!