page_title: 2012 Tour of Britain
section_title: Stage 2
hierarchical_section_title: 2012 Tour of Britain / Stages / Stage 2
caption_attribution_description: Bradley Wiggins in Tour of Britain
context_page_description: The 2012 Tour of Britain was the ninth running of the current Tour of Britain and the 73rd British tour in total. The race consisted of eight stages, starting on 9 September in Ipswich, and finishing on 16 September in Guildford. The race was part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour, and was categorised by the UCI as a 2.1 category race.
  The race was originally won by Endura Racing rider Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, who became the first British rider to win the race in its current guise and the first to win a British tour since Chris Lillywhite won the 1993 Milk Race. Tiernan-Locke assumed the race lead with a second-place finish on the sixth stage and maintained the lead until the end of the race. He won by eighteen seconds ahead of Australia's Nathan Haas, who rode for the Garmin–Sharp squad, and the podium was rounded out by Liquigas–Cannondale's Damiano Caruso, who finished five seconds behind Haas and twenty-three seconds in arrears of Tiernan-Locke. In 2014 however, following investigation for biological passport irregularities, Tiernan-Locke was banned for two years and stripped of his 2012 victory.
context_section_description: 10 September 2012 – Nottingham to Knowsley Safari Park, 180.7 km (112.3 mi)
  The first sprint point on the second stage was contested just over 20 km (12.4 mi) into the stage, at Duffield. After the sprint point, there were three successive first-category climbs on the 180.7 km (112.3 mi) parcours, coming at Cross o' th' Hands, Alstonefield and finally Morridge. The two final sprint points were at Chelford and Culcheth with the stage finishing, for the first time, at Knowsley Safari Park on the outskirts of Liverpool. The breakaway for the stage consisted of six riders, and they managed to remain off the front of the field for the majority of the stage. Making up the group were Liquigas–Cannondale stagiaire Matthias Krizek, Jack Bobridge of Orica–GreenEDGE, Peter Williams representing the Node 4–Giordana Racing team, Rapha Condor–Sharp's Richard Handley, Team Raleigh–GAC rider Russell Hampton and Pablo Urtasun for the Euskaltel–Euskadi squad. The sextet managed to establish a lead of over four minutes at one stage on the roads, but were gradually brought back by the peloton, led once again by Team Sky with assistance from Endura Racing; both teams were looking to set up their sprinters Mark Cavendish and Russell Downing respectively.
  The leaders managed to remain clear until around 25 km (15.5 mi); Bobridge and Williams resisted capture for another few kilometres, but all was together before the 20 km (12.4 mi) to go banner. There were several late-stage attacks from riders representing the domestic teams, but it was ultimately a sprint finish within the safari park for the stage honours. Team Sky were on the front with race leader Luke Rowe leading out Cavendish, but the pair became separated in the closing stages, allowing Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Bobridge's team-mate Leigh Howard into space. Howard beat a recovering Cavendish to the line for his first win of the year, while a third place for Van Poppel, compared to a tenth for Rowe – with a one-second time gap – allowed Van Poppel to take the lead in the general and points classifications from Rowe. This was despite Rowe receiving the leader's jersey during the post-stage podium ceremonies.
caption: The peloton, being led by Team Sky, during the stage. Race leader Luke Rowe – in the gold jersey – lost the jersey post-stage, after a one-second time gap was implemented at the finish.
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