Swift wins 2 stage of Tour Down Under, Mcewen takes yellow jersey

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Britain's Ben Swift won the second stage of the Tour Down Under on Wednesday. He avoided three crashes in the last four kilometres which brought-down compatriot Mark Cavendish and overnight leader Matthew Goss.

The riders made a sedate start from Tailem Bend. It was far from what would await them during the closing stages. The race was smooth and calm as they set-off on the 146-kilometre blast into Mannum. All the riders settled in for the journey across the picturesque countryside of Australia. Then, Yuriy Krivtsov jumped out front with the early breakaway.

The Ukrainian-born Frenchman would go on to lift the award for the day's most aggressive rider. But David Tanner and Mitchell Docker threatened his lead.

Mark Cavendish was a pre-stage favorite, but he had issues early. A punctured tire disrupted his game plan.

But with four kilometres to go, the British sprint king suffered a major setback. Cavendish, and fellow-contender Tyler Farrar from Team Garmin-Cervelo were among a number of riders who crashed on a bend that looked dangerous from the ground and from the air.

The left-hand turn on Gass Road also dropped Andre Greipel out of the running.

Then, with just 100 meters to go...another major incident. The front-runners got through, but the big crash caused havoc further back. More than 20 riders were caught up in the chaos.

The run to the finish line ended with a bunch sprint. Great Britain's Ben Swift of Sky Procycling crossed first in a time of three hours 27 minutes and 44 seconds.

Swift managed to be out front when the drama unfolded. He earned the victory in the T! our Down Under's second stage. RadioShack's Robbie McEwen finished second, and claimed the yellow jersey for the overall lead.

Editor:Zheng Limin |Source: CNTV.CN


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