After several break away attempts, Thursday’s 149K stage from Nimes to Saint Ambroix finished in a massive field sprint. Martijn Maaskant was the highest placed Slipstream finisher at 13th. Mike Friedman’s 48th place finish managed to move him up to 8th overall in the general classification.

Tomorrow’s decisive stage 3 is a figure eight-shaped circuit that includes two ascents of Col de la Baraque (631M).