It all got a little bit messy yesterday. Only one team got it right - SEE Turtles - and they were well rewarded for it. It is possible for them to secure a repeat today, with the peloton another flat parcour as they wind their way southwards. It would be a surprise, no rider has won the first two stages of this race since Ricki NELSON was launched to victory by his leadout all the way back in 2016.
When the cameras first come, we have the same five teams as yesterday riding at the front. From left to right: Minions, Ethiopian Airlines, Trans Looney Tunes, SEE Turtles, and Bianchi Enel. They were rewarded for their efforts yesterday to various degrees; they all secured Top 10s, but that was only by the slimmest of margins for Fabio JAKOBSEN. He will be needing to do better today.
SEE Turtles and Bianchi Enel are both looking somewhat weak. We haven't even reached the 10 kilometre banner yet, and they are both already down to just three riders. Even worse - it looks as though Ben TURNER can't keep up with the pace! He and his teammates are sliding backwards.
It looks like Trans Looney Tunes have sensed this moment of weakness. Roman ERMAKOV is leaning on Maral-Erdene BATMUNKH, forcing him across towards the barriers. That leaves no space for Bianchi Enel, they are being forced to check up!
That may very well be the end of Danny VAN POPPEL's chances today. We are coming up on the 10 kilometre mark now and he has been swallowed into the peloton. SEE Turtles have also just been squeezed against the side of the road, but they have managed to handle it better; dropping back slightly before looking to rebuild their momentum on the inside.
It doesn't look like much is going to change as we come in towards 5 kilometres to go, so this is my chance to give you a run down of events prior to the broadcast. Tobias MULLER and Itai OSHRI were our two escapees. The former is a neo-pro and the latter is only a sophomore, so not much in the way of palmarès to discuss for either of them. There wasn't much competition, with even yesterday's participants not showing any interest.
MULLER had his opposites number at both of the intermediate sprint points. He could not, however, challenge Axel KALLBERG for the polkadots jersey as the peloton had wrapped him up before they reached the day's second categorised climb. Xhuliano KAMBERAJ continued to show his potential by winning the sprint from the peloton; maybe today that will translate into actual results come the end of the stage?
So, here we are, flying under the 5 km banner. Time for a quick state of play. Nearest the camera is the Minions train. Same as yesterday; Erik BASKA on the front, followed by Jay MAJOR and Fabio JAKOBSEN. Jago WILLEMS has secured the first wheel. Syver WAERSTED, Willi WILLWOHL and Mhd GANJKHANLOU are following in his wake.
One lane over is Caleb EWAN's squad. No changes for him either, with EL-DOGHMY and GROSS lined up ahead of him. After his failure to convert with his own leadout yesterday, it seems like Sondre Holst ENGER is looking to exploit another team this time round. Then there are Xhuliano KAMBERAJ, Maximilian WALSCHEID and Cees BOL; all of whom have been latched on for several kilometres at this point. Jakub MARECZKO is a late addition, by contrast.
Next up is the yellow jersey: Dylan KENNETT. He has Atsushi OKA wearing the green jersey for him and Maral-Erden BATMUNKH fighting his way back to the front. Rick ZABEL, Axel ZINGLE and Niccolo BONIFAZIO form the dangerous contingent in their wheel tracks. The Lierse duo are just along for the ride.
Aleks BECHKOV is leading in the final lane, where his teammates Dylan PAGE and Jiankun LIU are locked on before there is a big gap back to Itamar EINHORN. VAN POPPEL has recovered this far - perhaps he isn't quite as out of it as I feared. Rounding out this column are Aliaksandr RIABUSHENKO, Alexander EDMONDSON and Lionel COUTINHO.
As we come into the closing stages of this race, Trans Looney Tunes are the first squad to run into trouble. SEE Turtles are now returning the favour that was visited upon them earlier, revenging the destruction that was wrought on Bianchi Enel. BECHKOV is still going toe-to-toe with BATMUNKH, but the rest of his compatriots have dropped back behind KENNETT's rear wheel.
Engaging in combat has thrown BATMUNKH off his stride. He is losing ground to both BASKA and EL-DOGHMY. In fact, his head had dropped, he is peeling off! That leaves OKA with a lot of ground to make up.
At the two kilometre mark now, BATMUNKH was just a touch early as the other third-men are now also beginning to slow. There is a bit of chaos though, as neither OKA nor GROSS are able to find a clear route through. That enables MAJOR to accelerate first, gaining a length or two in the process.
MAJOR and JAKOBSEN are off to an early lead here. Even WILLEMS wasn't ready for the move; he has a bit of ground to make up here.
The closest challengers are GROSS and EWAN. OKA is also moving fast, but KENNETT has been boxed out by ENGER and EINHORN.
PAGE and LIU have recovered from their earlier injury, finding space by switching to the opposite side of the road. They have also started to accelerate, although there is a lot of ground that they will need to make up.
OKA is now neck-and-neck with GROSS for the lead, but neither of them are going to have the gas to go all the way. In fact, they are already slowing.
There is hesitation though! Just like yesterday, EWAN and JAKOBSEN are unwilling to bite the bullet and make the first move. Even as their leadouts slow, they're still glancingacross at each other.
That means that LIU is back in the picture, still in the slipstream of PAGE.
EWAN has the benefit of being on the far side from LIU. That means he is the first to notice the danger and launch his own sprint. JAKOBSEN follows a second later, but when we are 600 metres from the line even a single second results in an insurmountable gulf.
The big surprise is that OKA is still going. He may have benefitted a little from a bit of side-drafting but still, he has been sprinting from more than a kilometre out. He is beginning to slow, but with just 300 metres left it is looking like a three-way shoot-out between him, LIU and EWAN.
It was 300 metres too far for OKA, who has begun dropping like a rock. Not quite as great a result for him as yesterday, but should still be the leading rider from his team with KENNETT still suffering from being boxed in earlier.
We are down to just two competitors then, with the favourite - EWAN - having to contend with another late leadout. Once again, the boon falls upon that last-second slingshot. LIU timed his launch to perfection and snatches the stage win against a stronger rider. Combined with yesterday's podium, that sees him also stealing the general classification from KENNETT (11th).
The surprise result is Willi WILLHOLD (4th), who must have come from an age back in order to secure his second Top 5 in a row. WILLEMS (12th) burnt too much energy trying to close the gap to JAKOBSEN (3rd) - who rewarded his team with a solid finish - which means that KALLBERG continues to hold the youth classification.
Circulo de Juárez 
