Finishing safely in the main peloton was enough for Italian Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) to successfully defend his slender overnight lead into stage two.

The end of stage one came down to a sprint finish won by Gerolsteiner's Markus Fothen ahead of Caisse d'Epargne duo Francisco Perez Sanchez and Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver.

Overall Savoldelli still leads Liquigas rider Roman Kreuziger but stage winner Markus Fothen, from Germany, now moves up into 3rd place overall pushing Predictor-Lotto's Chris Horner out of his podium position.

The race continues tomorrow with a 166.9 kilometer stage from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Lucens, the third stage of the race that looks set for another sprint finish before the riders start to tackle a much more challenging terrain.

 

Results

1 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4.08.58
2 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
4 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Milram
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
6 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis
7 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC
8 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas
9 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team L.P.R.
10 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
11 Roger Beuchat (Swi) Team L.P.R.
12 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
13 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
14 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis
15 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
16 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel
17 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana
18 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole
19 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto
20 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com
21 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Predictor-Lotto
22 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Cofidis
23 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
24 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
25 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
26 Michael Barry (Can) T-Mobile
27 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
28 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel
29 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
30 Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
31 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
32 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
33 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
34 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas
35 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
36 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
37 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas
38 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step-Innergetic
39 Michael Blaudzun (Den) CSC
40 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas
41 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
42 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
43 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
44 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas
45 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas
46 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom
47 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
48 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
49 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
50 Ignacio Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Team L.P.R.
51 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole
52 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
53 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital
54 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
55 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
56 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
57 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux
58 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
59 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com
60 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank
61 Nicolas Hartmann (Fra) Cofidis
62 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
63 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
64 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
65 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
66 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
67 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
68 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
69 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Milram
70 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole
71 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) T-Mobile
72 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
73 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
74 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile
75 Guido Trentin (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
76 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas
77 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
78 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis
79 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) CSC
80 David Zabriskie (USA) CSC
81 Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC
82 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) CSC
83 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) CSC
84 Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col) Cofidis 0.14
85 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 2.58
86 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas
87 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Unibet.com 3.33
88 Tom Criel (Bel) Unibet.com
89 Jaime Castaneda (Col) Lampre-Fondital
90 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile
91 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile
92 Matej Jurco (Svk) Milram
93 Luca Celli (Ita) Team L.P.R.
94 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Astana
95 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom
96 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Astana
97 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
98 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R Prévoyance
99 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic
100 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
101 Bobby Julich (USA) CSC
102 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
103 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner
104 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
105 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
106 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis
107 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
108 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel
109 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
110 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
111 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française des Jeux
112 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole
113 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com
114 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux
115 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole
116 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel
117 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
118 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
119 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
120 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel
121 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital
122 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R Prévoyance
123 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir
124 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole
125 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic
126 Borut Bozic (Slo) Team L.P.R.
127 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Saunier Duval-Prodir
128 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Team L.P.R.
129 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 11.37
130 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel
131 Nick Gates (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 13.26
132 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
133 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
134 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Milram
135 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
136 Nazareno Rossi (Swi) Team L.P.R.
137 Bart Dockx (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
138 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel
139 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Unibet.com
140 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Unibet.com
141 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile
142 Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Française des Jeux
143 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
144 Gregory Henderson (NZl) T-Mobile
145 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana
146 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
147 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana
148 Martin Müller (Ger) Milram
149 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank
150 Aaron Olson (USA) T-Mobile
151 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
152 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
153 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) Milram
154 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis
155 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux
156 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank
157 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank
158 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner
159 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Team L.P.R.
160 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
161 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14.08
162 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 14.15
163 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 19.59
164 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner

General Classification after stage one
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 4.13.33
2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0.05
3 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.06
4 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.07
5 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor-Lotto
6 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.09
7 Francisco Perez Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.10
8 Hubert Schwab (Swi) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.11
9 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
10 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 0.12
11 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française des Jeux
12 David Zabriskie (USA) CSC
13 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.13
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 0.14
15 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas
16 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas 0.15
17 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Unibet.com
18 Karsten Kroon (Ned) CSC
19 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas 0.16
20 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
21 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital
22 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
23 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Milram
24 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
25 Michael Barry (Can) T-Mobile
26 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Cofidis 0.17
27 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel
28 Andy Schleck (Lux) CSC 0.18
29 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
30 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital
31 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Crédit Agricole
32 Florent Brard (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
33 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
34 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
35 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 0.19
36 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic
37 Michael Blaudzun (Den) CSC
38 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Crédit Agricole
39 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
40 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole
41 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) T-Mobile
42 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.20
43 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
44 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) CSC
45 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
47 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
48 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.21
49 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
50 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
51 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
52 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
53 Michael Albasini (Swi) Liquigas
54 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com
55 Vincent Jérôme (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.22
56 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas
57 Guido Trentin (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
58 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
59 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis 0.23
60 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile
61 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Cofidis
62 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.24
63 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
64 David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis
65 Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team L.P.R. 0.25
66 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Milram
67 Josep Jufre Pou (Spa) Predictor-Lotto
68 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
69 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Bouygues Telecom 0.26
70 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
71 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.28
72 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) CSC
73 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 0.33
74 Nicolas Hartmann (Fra) Cofidis 0.34
75 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Predictor-Lotto 0.35
76 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.38
77 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
78 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.39
79 Ignacio Gutierrez Cataluna (Spa) Team L.P.R. 0.42
80 Roger Beuchat (Swi) Team L.P.R.
81 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel 0.43
82 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 0.44
83 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) CSC 0.47
84 Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col) Cofidis 0.58
85 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 3.24
86 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas 3.39
87 Andrey Mizourov (Kaz) Astana 3.43
88 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Unibet.com 3.44
89 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R Prévoyance 3.46
90 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3.48
91 Alessandro Proni (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 3.50
92 José Luis Arrieta Lujambio (Spa) AG2R Prévoyance
93 Bobby Julich (USA) CSC
94 Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 3.51
95 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 3.52
96 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
97 Julian Dean (NZl) Crédit Agricole 3.53
98 Luca Celli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 3.54
99 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic
100 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) T-Mobile 3.56
101 Igor Abakoumov (Bel) Astana
102 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel
103 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Unibet.com
104 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis 3.57
105 Jaime Castaneda (Col) Lampre-Fondital 3.58
106 Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Française des Jeux
107 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
108 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 3.59
109 Marco Pinotti (Ita) T-Mobile 4.01
110 Matej Jurco (Svk) Milram
111 Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Team L.P.R. 4.02
112 Borut Bozic (Slo) Team L.P.R. 4.04
113 Christophe Rinero (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4.05
114 Tom Criel (Bel) Unibet.com
115 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance
116 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 4.06
117 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4.08
118 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic
119 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4.12
120 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4.13
121 Pierre Drancourt (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4.14
122 Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.15
123 Christophe Kern (Fra) Crédit Agricole 4.16
124 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française des Jeux
125 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prévoyance 4.17
126 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Crédit Agricole 4.22
127 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Discovery Channel 4.23
128 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 4.26
129 Michal Golas (Pol) Unibet.com 12.04
130 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 12.05
131 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Milram 13.37
132 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
133 Alexander Khatuntsev (Rus) Unibet.com 13.38
134 Mauro Facci (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 13.40
135 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 13.46
136 Gregory Henderson (NZl) T-Mobile
137 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 13.48
138 Steve Morabito (Swi) Astana 13.49
139 Timothy Gudsell (NZl) Française des Jeux 13.50
140 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 13.52
141 Martin Müller (Ger) Milram 13.53
142 Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis 13.54
143 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 13.55
144 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana 13.56
145 Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank 13.57
146 Bart Dockx (Bel) Predictor-Lotto
147 Yon Bru Pascal (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13.58
148 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana
149 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner
150 Nick Gates (Aus) Predictor-Lotto
151 Trent Lowe (Aus) Discovery Channel 13.59
152 Aaron Olson (USA) T-Mobile
153 Sebastiaan Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 14.02
154 Raffaele Ferrara (Ita) Team L.P.R. 14.05
155 Cyrille Monnerais (Fra) Française des Jeux 14.09
156 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
157 Sebastian Schwager (Ger) Milram 14.11
158 Marco Zanotti (Ita) Unibet.com 14.12
159 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 14.34
160 Nazareno Rossi (Swi) Team L.P.R. 14.37
161 Aitor Galdos Alonso (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 15.05
162 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto 15.45
163 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 20.14
164 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 20.27