Trent Lowe, Criterium International stage 2 It seemed bad enough that the riders had to be up by around 5 am in order to be ready for the morning stage that started at 8:30 am. Then the race was furiously fast from the get-go. Attack after attack went as riders tried to stick their breaks and gobble up as many mountain points as possible on today’s nine climb stage.

And then the final insult came at about 48 km with a group of demonstrators blocking the road. The riders had to wait about 45 minutes while organizers cleared the road before the stage was restarted.

But despite the day’s challenges, Trent Lowe (right) managed to finish in the second group just 1′43″ off stage winner Simon Gerrans. Lowe’s strong finish moved him up from 26th to 16th overall.

Slipstream stage 2 results
1.Simon Gerrans 2:27′36″

18. Trent Lowe +01′43″
39. David Zabriskie +02′10″
80. David Millar +06′10″
108. Christophe Laurent +09′00″
DNF Kilian Patour +06′51″
DNF Magnus Backstedt +06′51″
DNF Timmy Duggan +12′40″
DNS Tom Peterson

Slipstream GC after stage 12
1. Jens Voigt 7:17′53″

16. Trent Lowe +01′40″
31. David Millar +06′07″
46. David Zabriskie +8′48″
96. Christophe Laurent +15′38″