Bertogliati retains yellow jersey

Rubens Bertogliati, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, heads for the finishing line on Tuesday swissinfo.ch

Switzerland's Rubens Bertogliati has held onto the Tour de France yellow jersey after the second stage of the prestigious cycling event.

Monday’s stage – which took the riders on a 181-kilometre course from Luxembourg to Saarbrücken in Germany – was won by the Spaniard, Oscar Freire.

Australia’s Robbie McEwan came in second, while Germany’s Erik Zabel finished third.

Bertogliati, who tasted victory in Sunday’s first stage after a sprint finish, could only manage 29th place on Monday, but his earlier strong performance ensured he was able to cling on to the leader’s jersey – at least for now.

“Today, I had a bit of luck to retain the yellow jersey for a second day…it’s an honour for me,” said the Swiss cyclist after the race.

“If I hold it again after tomorrow’s stage, I’m going to buy a lottery ticket,” the 23-year-old added.

Three-times champion Lance Armstrong finished the stage in 61st place and slipped to fourth position in the overall standings.

First-ever victory

Bertogliati, who hails from canton Ticino and races for the Lampre-Daikin team, won his first ever stage victory on Sunday and currently leads second-placed Zabel by two seconds in the overall standings.

The Swiss rider is the second cyclist from Ticino to grab the coveted golden jersey, 51 years after Giovanni Rossi did so when he took part in the Tour de France back in 1951.

Bertogliati’s face appeared on the front cover of many French papers on Monday, while the Luxembourg-based paper, “La Voix”, described the performance of the young Swiss as “Rubens’ masterpiece”.

Tuesday’s third stage will see the riders compete over a distance of 174.5 kilometres from Metz to Reims.

swissinfo with agencies