The second stage of Tour de Picardie was run over 166 km from Villers-Saint-Paul to Château-Thierry over nearly flat roads, with just three short hills.
The first of those hills, 6 km after the start, allowed a 34-wheel group to take off. We had three riders with them, Jürgen Roelandts, Kenny Dehaes and Maarten Neyens.
But the peloton reacted, and they were soon reeled in. Afterwards, a 3-man group escaped, taking up to 5\'. In the final, the peloton accelerated and the gap dwindled. 10 km short of the finish, a huge crash threw several riders to the tarmac. Amongst the victims were our Jens Debusschere and Maarten Neyens, the latter suffering a broken wrist.
However, the pursuit went on, and under the impulsion of Sven Vandousselaere and David Boucher, the escapers were caught, and the decision came with a bunch sprint won by Frenchman Romain Feillu. Kenny Dehaes was rather by himself in the sprint, he took 7th.. He is now 3rd of the general classification.
Result
1. Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil
2. Saïd Haddou (Fra) Europcar
3. Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Big Mat - Auber 93
4. Fabien Bacquet (Fra) Big Mat - Auber 93
5. Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis
...
7. Kenny Dehaes
31. David Boucher
37. Sven Vandousselaere
81. Jürgen Roelandts at 51\"
96. Jens Debusschere at 3\'28\"
