Philippe Gilbert takes Dauphiné lead with Stage 2 win

Daily Peloton | Stage 2 Live Coverage

Francaise des Jeux managed to put two riders off the front early in today's stage, and Belgium's Philippe Gilbert made the most of the break.

Gilbert took the climber's jersey on the day's third climb, but he went over the day's last climb (at about 30 kms or 19 miles to the finish) with 5:58 in hand, and could see the leader's jersey within his grasp.

At the finish, Gilbert led in the field by about 5:20, with Samuel Dumoulin of AG2R leading in the field at 5:19 ahead of a sprint won by Gerolsteiner's Peter Wrölich and Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd at 5:23.

Gilbert has more than a 5 minute lead on the entire field, and should lose only a little to the other GC candidates in tomorrow's time trial. Should be an interesting few days.

Also:

Eurosport | Gilbert goes the distance | RE-LIVE: The race as it happened

Quoting Gilbert:

"I haven't won in a long time and I wanted to savour it," Gilbert told Eurosport after the race. "This ride, I might pay for it - not tomorrow - but the day after and since I'm not a natural climber, I wanted to make the most of it."

"It's the first time I wore the leader's jersey in such a big race," Gilbert added. "I will give it 100 percent the rest of the way."