to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the second stage of the 2008 Tour de Suisse, a mountainous 197-kilometer stage from Langnau im Emmental to Flumserberg.

Today's stage features three rated climbs, a Category 3 Sattel (112km), the Category 3 Kerenzerberg (167km) and the Category 1 climb up the Flumsberg to the finish. The road leading to those climbs, however, is by no means flat and there may be opportunities for a feisty group to make some time on the lead up to today's climbs.

We've seen several attacks develop today, but none has managed to stay away.

Currently, with 150km remaining, Martin Elmiger (Ag2r) is now trying his luck, riding off on his own, but he's second on GC, so there may be some interest in keeping Elmiger within reasonable limits.

While most Swiss riders shine in the mountains, Elmiger has carved out a name for himself for his ability to shine in one-day classics. That gritty style has delivered him two national Swiss jerseys as well as strong results in the classics. He did take the overall title at the 2007 Tour Down Under, but that's not quite as hilly as the Tour de Suisse.

Elmiger is 1:45 ahead of the field. The race is now coursing its way on the downhill stretch after the opening hilly section. If he's hoping to hold off the field for the duration, he's got a long way ahead of him.

Lucerne, Elminger has a lead of 4:25. He's working hard to get a jump on the day's climbs.

Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy. Cool. Temperature of 13°C (55f). Winds 6km SW. Humidity will be 88% with a dewpoint of 7° and comfort level of 13°C. There is a 50% chance of precipitation.

is 141km from the finish. He's upped his lead to 4:40.

Elmiger is actually 5:50 ahead of the field, according to our latest time check. While Oscar Freire is in the yellow jersey, the lack of a hard chase by his Rabobank team may be a concession to the reality of the fact that the ace sprinter doesn't stand a snowball's chance of holding the lead on a stage like this. Elmiger started the day four seconds off of Freire's spot at the top of GC. His substantial lead on the road, of course, makes him the virtual leader on the road.

While Elmiger is busting his tail to build up his advantage, but it looks like the peloton is maintaining a reasonable pace, probably with the day's finishing climbs in mind.

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Elminger has upped his advantage to 9:00, with 137km remaining.

Elminger is a man afire. He's upped his advantage to 11:05, with 133km remaining.

the clouds are coming in. We'll see if the weather has an impact on the day's climbs, especially on the two major downhills on the way to the finale. Indeed, if the roads get wet, it may help a solo rider working his way down the descents.

Meanwhile, Elminger is now 12:23 ahead of the field. This fella is really working it.

Elminger has continued to extend his lead. Now, with 125km remaining in today's stage, he has upped his advantage to 13:04. He has just crested that little unranked bump in the road you see on the profile. The peloton is closing in on that summit, too, but will cross with a significant disadvantage.

While Rabobank may not be too concerned about Freire's chances to keep the jersey, the team does have a GC rider in Thomas Dekker. It may be time to put a little effort in the chase, rather than play the game of "You get him," "No, you get him."

Elminger has bumped his advantage to 14:35. That's a pretty healthy lead, but do take a gander at the profile before you start betting next months mortgage payment on the outcome.

of easy roads for Elminger and then the real climbing starts. He is working hard to enter those hills with as big of an advantage as he can muster.

Elmiger probably wishes he'd gotten a bit of company on this one today. It's got to be lonely out there and it's taking a big effort. He's not suffering, though. With 118km remaining, he has a lead of 15:30.

Elmiger is taking full advantage of his opportunities today. He has added another minute to his lead and now has 16:33 on the main field. Maybe they stopped for coffee? Elmiger certainly hasn't.

Elmiger is now 18 minutes ahead of the field. If he nudges that gap up beyond 20 minutes the man may have a good chance of getting the stage.

is falling on the course. This may favor Elmiger when things get dicey on the descents ahead.

The chase may be picking up as Elmiger approaches the first Cat. 3 climb. The gap has noodged down a bit... and is now 17:47.

or the chase is ramping up. Elmiger is nearing the start of the day's first Cat. 3 climb, with an advantage of 16:55. You can see how fast these big gaps can shrink when the chase gets serious. Let's see what his advantage is at the top.

Elmiger is working his way up the Category 3 Sattel (112km). Our latest time check gives him an advantage of 16:14.

Elmiger has 15:57 on the peloton.

How are those time checks determined? The are based on the relative GPS positions of cars following riders. Elmiger has the Ag2r car on his heels, while there is a caravan of team cars following the peloton.

Elmiger - and the guys chasing him - will face an often-steep 18km descent and then 30km of flat ground before the Kerenzerberg. Then about 15km of flat before the final haul to the finish.

is just around 10km, summiting at 480 meters. It's not a brutal climb, but Elmiger has been on his own for more than 60km, so he must be feeling it in his legs. Meanwhile, the peloton is through the feedzone and about to begin the climb.

has been trimmed to below 15 minutes. Elmiger is now 14:52 ahead of the field as he nears the summit of the Sattel.

to all of you dads out there. Thank you, too, to all of you who wrote in to wish the same to Live Update Guy, proud father of Philip and Annika.

the back side of the Settel, Elmiger his holding on to a 14-minute lead. He has a long stretch of flat roads ahead, before he hits the second climb. We can imagine that he's going to have his work cut out to hold on to that advantage before the next hump.

is on the flats and trying to make up time. He lost a few minutes on the climb and now he is working to hold on to a big lead going into the next climb. It's going to be a bit before he gets there.

Our most recent time check gives the Swiss rider an advantage of 13:55.

It's been a bit since we got a clean time check (one free of confusion), but our lone escapee is now 55km from the finish and holding a lead of 13:11. As a reference, the peloton is about 9 kilometers behind our leader.

puts Elmiger at 12:19 ahead of the peloton.

has been out there for 100km so far. His advantage is dropping, but not by too much. He once had an advantage of 18 minutes, but is now 12:05 ahead of the main field.

Meanwhile, in the Dauphine Libere, Dmitry Fofonov (Credit Agricole) has attacked a four-man break on the Col du Porte, summiting a dozen seconds ahead of his erstwhile breakaway mates. Race leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and the other GC hopefuls are in a second, larger group, apparently content with their respective spots on the overall.

Meanwhile, in the Dauphine Libere, Dmitry Fofonov (Credit Agricole) has attacked a four-man break on the Col du Porte, summiting a dozen seconds ahead of his erstwhile breakaway mates. Race leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and the other GC hopefuls are in a second, larger group, apparently content with their respective spots on the overall.

While the time gap is shrinking, there really is no concerted effort on the part any one team.

Elmiger still has about nine km to go before he reaches the slopes of the Cat. 3 Kerenzerberg. His lead has been trimmed to about 10 minutes.

nails the day's first sprint. He is still 10 minutes ahead of the field... and the rain is falling a little harder than it has been for most of the morning.

the peloton has made it through the sprint mark 8:47 behind Elmiger. Someone must have lit - to quote an old friend - the blue touchpaper. The pace has picked up.

is on the slopes of the Kerenzerberg. He has, according to our most recent check, an advantage of 8:38, so he's likely to score top KOM points on this one, too, but after that, all bets are off.

the rain is continuing to pick up, but's still not super heavy. Elmiger, for example, has not yet put on a raincoat.

is on the climb, having reached the lower slopes of the Kerenzerberg 6:48 behind Elmiger. He'll lose time on the remainder of the climb, but it looks like he'll make it over before being reeled back. It looks like we'll have a showdown for the stage win and the GC on the slopes of the Flumserberg today.

Elmiger is over the top of the Kerenzerberg, with an advantage of about five minutes on the main field. It's CSC, with the double whammy of the Schleck brothers ready to go for the finish, now taking the lead role in the peloton.

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) wrapped up the overall victory of the 2008 Dauphine Libere today.

Kazakh Dmitriy Fofonov of Credit Agricole won the stage.

here at the Tour de Suisse certainly rivals that of the Dauphine. We may see some real action - certainly more than we saw from the GC challengers in the Dauphine today - on this final climb here.

is riding on the flats in the rain. He has a lead of 4:27 over the main field. He is really putting in a big effort. It's going to be tough.

Elmiger has an advantage of 4:20. The rain is falling.

This last climb is going to shake things up.

has had a flat. That blows his shot at scoring points at the day's second sprint mark, coming up in less than 2k

is back chasing in the rain, drafting off of the Astana team car and back into the convoy. He's a pro...

Elmiger's advantage is falling faster than the value of the U.S. dollar, folks. He's just 3:06 ahead of the peloton.

remaining, Elmiger is closing in on the base of the Flumserberg. He's just 2:48 ahead of the field. He's relaxed and waving at the camera. He can take some solace in that he's probably going to keep the climber's jersey today.

has some horsepower at the front of the field. The gap is down to 2:20, with world time trial champ, Fabian Cancellara driving the pace. Cofidis is moving up now, too.

Elmiger is 13km from the finish and his advantage is now down to 1:45. The climb starts in 3km... for a tough, tough, final 10km

and the gap is 1:25. It is raining at the finish, but the crowds are, nonetheless, quite large.

is coming up to the base of the mountain, but he's already looking over his shoulder. His lead is down to 47 seconds. He will soon have company, folks.

at the base of the climb. Elmiger is on the climb, but so is the main field. He's been off on his own for 140km today. Ouch.

The climb ahead is a steep sucker, averaging 9.4 percent with ramps up to 16 at points.

We see Stijn Devolder, Cunego and the Schleck brothers.

We see the yellow jersey of Oscar Freire already spit off the back of the field.

FDJ's Gianni Meersman has put in a dig. Jens Voigt is giving chase, with 9km to go.

Meersman is about to be caught by Voigt, but the peloton is right on the German's heels.

to go, Voigt and Meersman are ahead of the peloton by about 10 seconds tops.

are 13 seconds ahead of a shrinking peloton. The peloton includes all of the favorites, but there are others who've been spit off the back. Voigt is really powering... and he swings over to try to get Meersman to pull, but the Belgian looks pretty wasted already.

are now 20 seconds ahead of the field. We see a High Road rider scampering out of the field. We need to ID that one.

has moved ahead of his former partner. Meersman simply could not hold the wheel of the German.

is caught. The High Roader, too, was reeled back. Now we see Astana's Maxim Iglinsky (9th on GC) taking a dig. He's moved ahead of the peloton.

Voigt is 20 seconds ahead of the peloton and Maxim Iglinsky is closing in. The peloton is made up of about 30 riders.

to go and Voigt is 18 seconds ahead of the field, with Maxim Iglinsky pulled back.

is putting in a big, big effort, but with less than 5km to go, his advantage has been trimmed to 10 seconds. Astana is moving to the front, ready to launch Kloden, no doubt.

Voigt isn't giving up. He has 11 seconds, with 4km to go.

is setting the pace at the front of the peloton, but Kloden looks like he's having a bit of trouble.

Voigt is 3.6km from the top, but he's only 8 seconds ahead of the 25 men chasing.

Voigt is now joined and passed by Andy Schleck, Damiano Cunego is following.

Voigt is now joined and passed by Andy Schleck, Damiano Cunego is following.

Schleck is now charging off the front. We're less than 3km from the top.

We have Frank Schleck and Stijn Devolder... and it looks like Landaluze trying to join up.

Just as the Euskaltel man closes in, Schleck puts the hammer down.

Schleck is really putting in the big efforts. He's getting rid of everyone, with the exception of Devolder. They have 2km to go.

the Little Prince is suffering on the climb.

Ahead, Igor Anton, Stijn Devolder and Schleck have gapped the rest of the field.

is fighting back. He and Kim Kirchen are trying to rejoin the trio in the lead. Schleck looks a little tired up front.

has rejoined the leaders. We have an attack from Oliver Zaugg (Gerolsteiner) and Schleck pulls the rest of the group.... nope. They're letting the guy go

and now Liquigas's Roman Kreuziger catches him near the finish, but NO! Zaugg digs again. 200 meters to go!

times his move perfectly. Zaugg blew with 175 meters to go and Anton explodes out of the group to take the stage win. Nice, nice finish.

Anton started the day 10 seconds out of first, while Kim Kirchen started at six. Let's see how this all shakes out. What a great ride today. Stand by while we sort through the results.

led by Fabian Cancellara comes in.

It looks like Anton will get the jersey as well as the stage win. There are a number of big players bunched into the top 10 on GC, so we should see a big battle develop when the Swiss Tour returns to the tough mountain stages in a few days.

Thanks for tuning in today. We'll be back tomorrow with coverage of Stage 3 from the 2008 Tour de Suisse.