Tour De France Stage Two: Thor Takes Stage, Valverde Holds Yellow

Stage two, much like stage one of the Tour de France, saw a hard charging peloton thrill the crowd in France for a second consecutive day. While yesterday's stage finish was one for the climbers, stage two provided an opportunity for the sprinters to try their hand at victory, and Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd made the most of the slightly uphill finish to take top honors on the day. Alejandro Valverde held on to the leader's yellow jersey ahead of Tuesday's time trial.

Valverde, like many of the riders in the Tour, was fatigued after a long day in the saddle on the way to Saint Brieu. He'll keep the yellow jersey ahead of tomorrow's flat stage, and will look to conserve his energy ahead of Tuesday's all important 29.5 kilometer time trial. Most of the GC favorites will lay low in tomorrow's flat stage, which will provide the sprinters with their first real opportunity to battle for a stage win in the Tour, as the finish is flat and perfect for a bunch sprint.

As Tuesday's time trial is fast approaching, there are several riders who, with a good ride in the time trial, could take the maillot juane away from Valverde. Of those riders within only one second from Valverde on the general classification, Australia's Cadel Evans, appears to be the biggest threat to taking the win on Tuesday. Kim Kirchin too is a good time trialist, and is obviously on good form following his near win in stage one. One more GC rider to watch who is within one second is CSC's Frank Schleck. Though not known as a top time trialist, Schleck is in good condition and has stated previously that he feels he has a chance for the podium this year.

Another dangerous time trialist within one second on the GC is Garmin-Chipotle's David Millar, a former world time trial champion. Millar has the most to gain in the short term with a time trial win, as he could don the yellow jersey for his Garmin squad. The overall contenders probably wouldn't mind if Millar won too, as it would allow their teams to stay in the background on subsequent stages, and instead allow the Garmin squad to control breakaways and attacks.

Stage three will be largely inconsequential on the overall picture in this year's Tour, but it will still provide plenty of action as the fast men mix it up ahead of the time trial. On Tuesday though things get serious, as each of the GC contenders will need to go all out to place themselves as high up as possible against their rivals. All signs point to a win by defending world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, while the GC contenders will be able to see just how good their chances for the overall win are after a tough time trial test.