The second stage of the Tour de France 2004 took place largely in Belgium with a detour to France . The start was in Charleroi and the finish line after 197 km was in Namur, Belgium . Like the first stage, the second was a flat stage with three intermediate sprints and two mountains of the 4th category. Because of the strong tail wind, the stage ran on the fastest calculated cut. In the first mountain classification, the wearer of the dotted jersey , Paolo Bettini from Italy, attacked . He was able to secure the first mountain prize. After this mountain classification, six drivers were able to pull away, including the German Lang from the Gerolsteiner team and the Dane Piil from the CSC team .
After a few kilometers, three drivers, including the Rabobank driver Karsten Kroon, tried to make friends. Sebastian Lang , who belonged to the first group of leaders, rode in the virtual yellow jersey at times, as he was only 31 seconds behind overall leader Fabian Cancellara . The lead was temporarily a maximum of 4:50 minutes, but it fell continuously. The intermediate sprints were almost meaningless, as the opponents for the yellow jersey and the green jersey were in the back of the field. About 40 kilometers from the finish there was a fall, which was the victim of Mario Cipollini's rider Gian Matteo Fagnini . He had to finish the race.
Finally, 22 kilometers from the finish, the leading group merged with the field. Then there was an attack by an Alessio driver, which was quickly thwarted. Thereupon the field increased the pace so that there is no more attempt to break away. In the mass sprint, Australian Robbie McEwen prevailed ahead of Thor Hushovd and Nazon. So the Norwegian was able to put on Fabian Cancellara's yellow jersey. The favorites Alessandro Petacchi and Zabel had no chance, like yesterday. The sprint was overshadowed by two riders falling over the last 500 meters.
