Cusin pips Breschel in Aarhus

Rémi Cusin (Cofidis) outsprinted Matti Breschel (Rabobank) on stage two of the Tour of Denmark after the duo clipped off the front of the peloton in a high-speed finale in Aarhus. It was Breschel’s second time finishing in second place in as many days, but the Dane had the considerable consolation of moving into the overall lead thanks to his late attack.

With a little under 3km to go on the technical finishing circuit in Aarhus, Cusin sparked what turned out to be the winning break with a clever attack. A vigilant Breschel sensed that this was an opportunity to seize the initiative from the pure sprinters and instantly tracked the Frenchman’s move. The pair took advantage of some hesitation in the peloton behind to build a ten-second lead with two kilometres to go, and then they collaborated smoothly on the run-in to hold off the speeding bunch.

In the finishing straight, Breschel had to give best to Cusin’s explosive sprint, but his efforts in the finale were enough for him to leapfrog Sacha Modolo (Colnago-CSF Inox) in the overall standings and move into the yellow jersey.

Modolo was pipped by his fellow countryman Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) in the mass sprint for third place, two seconds behind Cusin and Breschel. He now lies four seconds behind Breschel, with Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Sungard) a further three seconds back in third.

Earlier in the stage, Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) made a whole-hearted attempt to peg back some of the time he had lost after puncturing in the finale of stage one. With 50km to go, the Dane attacked in the company of teammate Martin Mortensen, and together they bridged a two-minute gap to an earlier five-man breakaway.

Fuglsang’s former Saxo Bank-Sungard team was wise to the threat, however, and they massed on the front of the peloton to shut down his move, eventually swallowing the break with 20km to go. Over three laps of the finishing circuit in Aarhus, a number of speculative attacks were snuffed out, until Breschel, another former Saxo Bank man, forged clear in the company of Cusin to decide the stage.

Curtailed by injury since switching to Rabobank during the off-season, Breschel is still without a win for his new team, but the Dane’s effervescent showing in his home tour to date lends some hope that the long wait may soon be at an end.

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