Saunier Duval's Luciano Pagliarini outkicked stage-1-winner Ivan Dominguez and Symmetrics' Andrew Pinfold to take the stage win. Crosswinds opened the door for a breakaway but the gaps were kept more manageable with Discovery at the front of the peloton. Pagliarini sent his team to the front to do the final reel in and repaid their efforts with a strong win.
I screwed up the finishing shot. My initial gut told me that it was going to be Pagliarini, but I pulled off at the last second to try and catch the Pinfold coming around the end. I ended up getting not much of either, except some lessons learned.
Long road stages are tough without a motorcycle. You have to drive like a madman and often you still end up missing the peloton flying by. I managed to catch the peloton at a scenic bridge only to see the photographers on motorcycle arrive just in time to take the exact same shot. Its fun, though, and a good excuse to chat up the locals to get to know the local terrain.
The stage start was a blast. Lebanon brought out the students of Boswell Middle School in full force and decked out in yellow school t-shirts. Groups of students were each assigned a team and they dutifully walked around with their handmade team signs. They also lined the start line and collected high-fives from the passing riders. Even photographers like myself got in on the action as, in the end, the students didn't seem to care who they were cheering or collecting autographs from.
Slipstream bikes and Levi's new National Champ bike:
