John Degenkolb doubled his tally and defended his leader's jersey by sprinting to his second win in just as many days on the second stage of the Tour Mediteraneen. We have already posted several reactions and have gathered a few more below.

Jerome Pineau (IAM, 12th s.t.)

“Everything is rolling along great for IAM Cycling at the Tour Med.  With the exception of Marcel Wyss’s crash, which I hope was not too bad, we had a good day.  We were in the breakaway that had four or five riders.  And we showed that we have riders with good form over the Petit-Galibier climb.  And in the end, we arrived to put Sylvain Chavanel into position before the sprint so that he wouldn’t risk losing sloppy seconds before the time trial.

“We still have to tweak some aspects of how we work together, especially in the sprints, so that how to do the perfect set-up becomes second nature to all the guys.  But that will come with experience and getting to know each other a little better.  For the rest, there is absolutely nothing wrong and we all get along very well.  There is no question that everyone is doing his maximum to do the best job possible.  I have no doubt that we will get a big win in the pretty near future.”

Stephen Cummings (BMC, 17th s.t.)

"It was a hard stage again, like yesterday. But it was different because yesterday was the wind. Today was more left and right, up and down, very nervous. So we had to stay in front. There was a big crash before the last climb and we were just behind a bit. Thor Hushovd and Amaël Moinard brought me back to the front. In the final, I could follow the first on the climb. And then, after the climb, I couldn't follow some moves because the race was pretty stretched and no one really had control. I managed to stay in the same group to keep the same time as everyone else. So that was good."

Max Sciandri (sports director BMC whose best rider was Stephen Cummings in 17th)

"We had a little look at a result and it didn't really happen but I think we had our GC (general classification) guys in front and that's what probably counts. We have Steve and Ben (Hermans) up there. That's good. Overall, I'd say things went pretty good. We're happy."

Pavel Brutt (Katusha, 7th s.t.)

“With (Egor) Silin, (Iurii) Trofimov and myself we had three riders in the first group. Iurii was of course a bit tired after his attack in the last ten kilometers, that’s why I tried to get a good result anyway. We cannot go to the finish without trying something. I positioned myself in the front just before the more explosive sprinters passed me. Okay, six guys passed me, so this is not bad at all.”

Iurii Trofimov (Katusha, made a late attack, 39th s.t.)

“I just raced two days in Mallorca, so I don’t have much competition in the legs, but I feel better and better every day. I gave it a try today. It didn’t work but I am happy. This race is not over yet – in the coming days I will try to show something again.“

Dmitriy Konyshev (sports director Katusha whose best rider was Pavel Brutt in 7th)

“Iurii is in good shape. First he tried to go a few times in a breakaway. In the end he also went on the attack. This is very promising for the races to come.”

Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Polsat, 70th +2.11)

"From the beginning of today's stage, the peloton set a very fast pace. When two riders attacked, it was like on the previous day when the race leader's Giant-Shimano took control of the peloton, systematically reducing the advantage of the escapees.

"At the end of the stage, there was a quite difficult climb where there was a mountains sprint at the top. On the climb, the peloton split in two groups. Having caught two riders, about 60 riders remained and they contested the win. In this group, we only had Davide Rebellin who crossed the line in the same time as the winner. The rest of us arrived at the finish in the next small group, losing two minutes to the winner.

In today's stage Piotr Gawrosnki was a big loser. 50km from the line, just before the categorized climb, he punctured. The team only has one car in the convoy so when the wheel had been changed, the director left him behind and went back to the front to support the rest of us. Piotr was behind and was not able to rejoin the peloton. He finished outside the time limit. It is a shame."

Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia, part of the early break, in the mountains jersey, 60th s.t.)

"It was a very difficult stage. I'm glad I achieved my goal because I wanted to take the mountains jersey. That is why I went in the breakaway. Now, he'll have to keep the jersey until Sunday evening. We also have hopes for a stage victory on Mont Faron, with guys like Fabio Duarte and Carlos Julian Quintero. They have the legs to get a good result. "
 

Oscar Pellicioli (sports director Colombia whose best rider was Leonardo Duque in 48th)

“Today we wanted to get on the break and try to take the king of the mountains jersey, and we got it done [with Jarlinson Pantano.

“In this early stint, the team is showing the quality and the approach we always strongly believed in. Winning is never easy, but athletes with such characteristics always have a chance to leave their mark on the race, as they did today.

“Pantano was smart in handling himself showing increasing maturity. Many times, we lost important opportunites for spending too much energy in the break: today Jarlinson did very well to save enough energy to finish his work.

“Everybody knows Fabio’s [Duarte who attacked on the final climb] quality. In the team meeting, we had agreed to try something on the Petit Galibier, and we got some good responses. Generally speaking, I am seeing a different determination in the team: a group of riders who believe in themselves, care for one another, and share the utter confidence we have always had. That’s the way to move forward.”

Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani, best young rider, 4th s.t.)

”Congrats to Degenkolb and his team who deserved the victory today. With my teammate we did a good job and Bongiorno helped my very well until the last km, despite his goal of the general classification. In the final sprint, I waited too much when Degenkolb attacked and I think in that moment I lost the chance for the victory or at least for 2nd place. Now tomorrow we a half-stage in the morning where I aim to do well. I also hope to hold the white jersey until the TT in the afternoon”.

Michel Dernies (sports direcor Wallonie whose best rider was Christophe Premont in 67th)

"It was a hard day marked by misfortune for Wallonie-Bruxelles. Laurent Evrard crashed early in the race. Sebastien Delfosse also crashed after 135km at the bottom of the Petit Galibier. Christophe Premont had two mechanicals, after 10km and after 114km. The Petit Galibier was fatal for our rider who didn't miss much to hang onto the best group. On Saturday we will have another hard day with a morning half-stage of 63km that will be very fast and an 18km time trial with two nice climbs in the afternoon."