Nizzolo wins stage 2 at Tour of Luxembourg

Giacomo Nizzolo won the second stage in the Tour of Luxembourg. The Radioshack-Leopard rider beat Saxo Tinkoff's Marko Kump and Blanco's Paul Martens in a sprint.

Jonathan Hivert (Sojasun) is the new race leader. He finished in the first group of 25 riders and takes the yellow jersey off his teammate Jimmy Engoulvent.

The break of the day in the 173-kilometre long stage was formed after 20 kilometres and featured Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM), Europcar's Sebastien Turgot and Mattia Pozzo of Vini Fantini. The three were a strong collective, but Thomas de Gendt was the strongest when he continued on his own in the final. The Belgian number three of last year's Giro decided last minute to come to Luxembourg for some extra race days after he abandoned the Criterium du Dauphiné. He plans on leaving the Tour of Luxembourg tonight.

In the penultimate lap around Walferdange, De Gendt was caught by a thinned out peloton. Yellow jersey wearer Engoulvent had trouble following the peloton on the hard climbs and lost many minutes.

The final lap saw several attacks by Radioshack-Leopard's Jan Bakelants among others, but the stage finished with a bunch kick of a 25-rider strong first group. Nizzolo jumped from Kump's wheel and won the second stage by over a bike length. It's his first season victory.

"This was a collective victory, one for the team like it usually is in cycling," a smiling winner told Cyclingnews. "We had discussed this morning that if I would survive the climbs today, it would be for me."

"I felt good after the Giro and this is my last race before the break. I am very motivated." Nizzolo was unlucky in yesterday's sprint. In the final corner another rider hit his derailleur which broke off. "That's cycling, it happens," he said.

Radioshack won the overall classification in the last two years with Jakob Fuglsang and Linus Gerdemann. The Tour of Luxembourg is an important objective for the Luxembourg-based team. "Bob Jungels, who is from around here, is obviously very motivated. We also have Jan Bakelants who is in great shape. We have two cards to play for tomorrow," Nizzolo said.

Engoulvent lost 12 minutes and saw the yellow jersey pass over to his Sojasun teammate Hivert. "The course turned out harder than we had expected," Hivert told Cyclingnews. "It was too hard for Jimmy but we are used to that. It happened the other years, too, when he won the prologue and then also the jersey moved on to a teammate," Hivert said.

"We have never won the general classification though, so that's a goal. I think I can do well in tomorrow's stage. In 2012 I was fourth in the final overall. This year is my best season so far. I won great races, but I never won a stage race in my career."

The same goes for the Sojasun team in Luxembourg. "The team has won stages and many podium spots in this event but never the yellow jersey in Luxembourg-City. We will try to control the race tomorrow, watch the other teams but it will not be easy. Our goal is to keep this jersey," Hivert said.

The Saturday stage is traditionally the hardest stage in the five-day event. The overall classification will be shaped in the 178.8-kilometre long stage between Eschweiler and Diekirch.

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