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Parting the Sea
Stage 2 was the opening of the road racing in this year's Tour. The peloton left Utrecht heading for the wide open flats of the Dutch country side covering 166 kilometers on their way to the edge of the North Sea and Zelande. This group of four wasted no time getting away from the peloton, attacking as soon as the neutral zone came to an end and the racing flag was dropped. The foursome of Amindo Fonseca (Bretagne Seche), Jan Barta (Bora-Argon 18), Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar), and Stef Clement (IAM Cycling) were never able to gain more than two minutes on those behind. The stage profile showed that it would be a day for the sprinters unless the notorious winds of the Netherlands blew apart the peloton.