The second stage in the Tour de Picardie went to Romain Feillu. Styby tried to position himself for the sprint, but fell back in the last kilometer and finished in 35th.
The peloton rode to Château-Thierry with the wind at its back. “And because of that the speed was very high. I ended up in a group of 30 riders at the front with my teammates Gert Steegmans and Jan Tratnik.”
Despite working well together, the peloton caught the group and three other riders went on the attack. After that the pace slowed and it became a typical sprinters stage. The escapees were caught with a few kilometers to go and the fast men were able to do their thing.
The peloton was torn apart following a massive crash in the final kilometers. Steegmans lost his chance of winning the stage and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck was also involved. “Luckily I stayed upright and tried to sprint. For a moment it looked good. With 500 meters to go I was in 10th position. But then I had to break and I was swallowed up by the peloton. Too bad.”