May 21, 2004 – While we were in yellow, everybody waited for the Spanish armada to be deployed as usual. We did have a Spanish winner, but not the domination everyone expected, as we managed to shut it down for yet another day. The day was again very fast as they covered the 86.1K in 1 hour 54 minutes. The difference from the first stage, a lot more serious attacks. For our two tandems, it was a lot to control.

About halfway through the race, Spanish riders Gonzalez and Suarez went up the road easily since they were about found minutes back on the GC ( they flatted in stage 1). They were joined by European Champions Donval and Bizet. After having to shut down many other previous brake attempts, it was back to work for the Canadians when that lead got to 30 seconds. In what we thought was a blessing, our main rivals for the moment (Donval and Bizet) punctured while enjoying those 30 seconds of lead.

At the same time, another problem, the French duo, Josso and Rivière, got away and quickly joined the Spanish at the front. We must admit, it was a great piece of work on their behalf. We managed to keep them at 30 seconds for another 3 laps, but then the lead increased to 45 seconds, then 1:00 to max out at 1:15 with three laps to go. In the finals laps, the gap diminished, but not enough to save the jersey. Côté and Boily finished 10th at 42 seconds, and Cowie and Solem finished 20th at 1:02. The pack totally exploded in the final lap with the increased speed.

Disappointing day in a way, but we are still in the hunt. And for a long time, we still don’t have a Spanish leader. Côté and Boily still stand in 7th place overall at 29 seconds, and Cowie and Solem, who had a far better ride compared to stage 1, have now moved up to 18th place at 3:18.

Next up, the route will bring us to Loenhout for a 78K ride on one of the fastest courses of the Tour. Again, anything can happen.