A studied success: University graduate Bakelants wins second stage

Its difficult to believe what happened today,its fantastic, said Bakelants,who had a knee operation earlier this year. Today it may be the first and last time I ever wear the yellow jersey.

He won in 3 hours,43 minutes,11 seconds,with Sagan and third-place finisher Michal Kwiatkowski one second behind him. The 156-kilometer 97-mile trek started from Bastia and,after four moderate climbs,finished in Ajaccio where French emperor and military mastermind Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1769.

With the finish in sight,Bakelants found himself with five other riders and instinct told him that he may never get a better chance to make a name for himself.

I felt the others werent going at 100 percent so I stayed back,but then I saw the peloton were closing in on me, he said. With 500 meters to go I had a look and I saw that I was still 100 meters clear of the peloton. I gave everything I had and I made it by one second. But that doesnt matter,I have the yellow jersey.

It has been a difficult career for Bakelants so far.

I had a lot of bad luck. Ive had two operations. I fell at the Tour of Lombardy in 2010,I fractured my right knee and left elbow. You know,things like that take time to heal, he said. This year I had bad luck as well,an operation on my right leg. I worked very hard to come back.

Prior to Sunday,his proudest achievement was off the bike namely a bachelors degree in bioscience engineering from the university of Leuven in Belgium.

I think theres more in life than just cycling, he said. But at the moment cyclings in first place.

German sprinter Marcel Kittel started the day in the lead after winning Saturdays crash-marred first stage,but the rolling hills took their toll and he finished nearly 18 minutes behind in 169th spot.

Its a difficult stage and Im a sprinter,thats why I suffer, said Kettel,who retained the sprinters green jersey. I had goose bumps when I went up the hill. So many people were screaming my name. But we were expecting to lose it the yellow jersey.

short,steep climb

The days last climb up Cote du Salario was much shorter than the other ones but far steeper. By the time the pack reached the foot of it,Kittel and British sprinter Cavendish were among a small band of strugglers drifting further and further away.

Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha and Cyrille Gautier attacked up the final ascent,and Tour favorite Chris Froome then launched a surprise attack to go after Gautier when the Frenchman pulled away. But Froomes attack fizzled out and the main pack swallowed him up.

Cavendish was in trouble all day,struggling to keep up as his teammates tried to drag him up the second climb up Col de la Serra. However,French veteran Thomas Voeckler had a lot in reserve and chased the four early frontrunners. Lars Boom and Ruben Perez Moreno were soon caught up,leaving just David Veilleux and Blel Kadri at the front. Voecklers attack reeled in Veilleux but then fizzled out quickly,leaving Kadri alone in the lead.

Tony Martin of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team recovered from several injuries to take the start. Martin was one of more than a dozen riders to fall Saturday with the German taken to the hospital after losing consciousness and sustaining a contusion to his left lung,cuts to his hip,chest,left knee and shoulder,and his back. He finished 192nd.