Niemiec heads Miche-Silver Cross one-two

Przemyslaw Niemiec (Miche-Silver Cross-Selle Italia) soloed to victory on the Route du Sud's second stage, arriving in Pierrefitte Nestalas nearly one minute ahead of teammate Massimo Giunti and Rémy Di Gregorio (Francaise des Jeux). The Pole also moved into the race lead with a 1:05 lead over Giunti and 1:06 advantage over Di Gregorio.

Niemiec made his winning move on the Col du Tourmalet which he crested alone with 43.1 kilometres remaining in the stage. A chase group of six, soon reduced to only Giunti, Di Gregorio and Julien Loubet (AG2R La Mondiale), kept Niemiec's lead between 10 and 35 seconds for the next 35 kilometres, but the Pole was able to extend his lead out to 58 seconds over the remaining eight kilometres of the stage.

The riders face a 182.5-kilometre stage from Izaourt to Luchon on Saturday consisting of three categorised climbs, including the category one Port de Bales Haute Garonne with 21.7 kilometres to the finish.