World champion Freire takes Stage 2

Mapei's world road race champion Oscar Freire charged to the front of the peloton in the final meters to take his first-ever stage win at the Tour de France on Monday, as the race finished its second stage on the streets of Saarbrücken, Germany.

The 26-year-old Spaniard, who won his world title in Lisbon last October, crept up on the right side of the Australian national champion to pip him on the line and take the honors after 181km of riding from Luxembourg to Saarbrücken.
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Preliminary Overall Standings

1. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi/LAM), 9hr 18min 12sec.
2. Erik Zabel (Ger/TEL), at at 00:02.
3. Laurent Jalabert (Fra/CST), at 00:03.
4. Lance Armstrong (USA/USP), at 00:03.
5. Raimondas Rumsas (Lit/LAM), at 00:06.
6. Santiago Botero (Col/KEL), at 00:07.
7. David Millar (Gbr/COF), at 00:08.
8. Laurent Brochard (Fra/DEL), at 00:09.
9. Oscar Freire (Spa/MAP), at 00:11.
10. Dario Frigo (Ita/TAC), at 00:11.

Lance drops a place but is still only 3 seconds behind. These flat races often end with a few sprinters going for the win off the front of a large pack of riders (the peleton). Everyone in the peleton gets the same time. In the next few days you may see a small group of riders attack and break away from the main peleton. If the riders breaking away are not considered to be threats for an overall placing, the major teams will let them go. However, if a big boy is in the break, then the other major teams will try to reel them in. Lots of strategy in these races, protecting positions, as they head towards the mountains, but it's not likely that anyone will build a real lead at this point. But anything can happen. After all, it's the Tour de France.