Cipollini repeats, keeps maillot jaune
By Andrew Hood
Outside Online correspondent

Mario Cipollini celebrates winning the second stage

Decked out head-to-toe in yellow and even riding a yellow Cannondale bike, Cipollini bolted past second-place finisher Erik Zabel (Telekom) in the final 200 yards to win the Tour's longest stage, 262 kilometers (157 miles) from Saint-Vailery-en-Caux near the Atlantic Coast to Vire.

TVM's Jeroen Blijlevens crossed the line third while Gan's Frederic Moncassin, who attacked too early to hold off the late-charging Cipollini, finished fourth.

"I had a 'black moment' 500 meters from the finish. I was boxed out, but I grabbed Zabel's wheel and I won the race," said Cipollini, wearing yellow shorts, shoes, and sunglasses to accompany the maillot jaune he earned in a sprint victory Sunday.

Mario Cipollini makes a late dash to win (816k avi)

With Blijlevens attacking on Cipollini's right, the Italian slipped between a gap and passed Zabel to win his sixth career Tour stage.

"I have a strong team and I have great form. To win the yellow jersey is the greatest honor of my career," he said, adding that he hopes to defend the jersey over the next week of flat stages until the Tour reaches the first climbing stages in the Pyrenees July 14.

With commitments to race in the Vuelta España later this season, Cipollini said he's not sure if he will try to finish the entire Tour.

There were no major changes in the overall standings as the riders crossed the line together.

With time bonuses, Cipollini widened his lead to 36 seconds over second-place Chris Boardman (Gan), winner of the Tour's opening prologue Saturday. Telekom's Jan Ullrich remains in third overall at 38 seconds back, with Tony Rominger (Cofidis) and Abraham Olano (Banesto) in fourth and fifth, respectively.

U.S. Postal's Adriano Baffi, winner of a stage in the Paris-Nice earlier this year, finished sixth in the stage, while Cofidis's Frankie Andreu remains the top American in the overall standings in 16th at 55 seconds back.

The pace was slow over the long stage that rolled through the lush farm country of France's Normandy region, with the peloton barely averaging 20 mph in the first hour of the stage and taking nearly 6.5 hours to finish the course. The pace quickened when Saeco and Telekom moved to the fore to reel in a solo break by Big Mat's Thierry Gouvenou, who built up a four-minute lead midway through the stage.

Gouvenou, who lives in the area, fell back suffering from cramps, but was awarded the day's most aggressive rider award for his efforts.

Defending champion Bjarne Riis and his Telekom squad appeared to be back on the same page Monday after the team was splintered in a crash near the end of Sunday's stage. Riis lost nearly one minute to last year's runner-up Ullrich and a host of other challengers after team captain Riis was held up in the crash and the rest of the Telekom riders pulled ahead to set up sprinter Zabel for this finish.

Riis was reportedly enraged that no teammates helped him to pull back to the lead group. Telekom held a team meeting Sunday night where Riis confirmed his position as team captain, German reporters said. Still, speculation is high that Telekom will split between Riis and Ullrich in the Tour's later stages.

Also late in the stage, ONCE's Alex Zulle pulled off the front of the peloton "to test his form," said ONCE's director sportif Manolo Saiz.

Zulle, who broke his left shoulder in a spill in last month's Tour de Suisse, didn't want to start Monday's stage, but Saiz said he convinced the 1995 runner-up to race. The 29-year-old Zulle went down in Sunday's crash, falling on his legs to protect his shoulder.

"Zulle made this attack to see how his condition is," Saiz said. "I think it's okay for (Zulle) to race the entire Tour. The next few days will tell us."

Tuesday's third stage takes the riders 224 kilometers (134 miles) from Vire to Plumelec in France's Brittany region. The course features two category-four climbs in the first half of the stage before a long, flat finish in Plumelec. Look for the teams to work hard to set up their sprinters to have another chance at beating Cipollini.

Stage 2 results

Andrew Hood is Outside Online's European cycling correspondent.