Marc Wauters has won the second stage of the Tour de France in a close finish on the streets of Antwerp.

The Belgian rider completed a home victory in front of King Albert II and Queen Paola, after outsprinting Frenchman Arnaud Pretot, who finished second.

Riding for Rabobank, the 32-year-old also took hold of the yellow jersey, leading the overall classification from Stuart O'Grady.

The Australian sprinter pushed hard during the closing stages of the 218.5km ride from Calais, France, but could only place fifth.

Wauters, who recorded his 20th career success but first in the Tour de France, beat home a group of 15 other riders who had escaped with him in the last 30km.

"I'm 32 and this is incredible - its a dream," he said afterwards.

"I'm a good worker for the team, but today has been payback time for all the efforts I've put in through the years."

His joy came in contrast to the mood of O'Grady, who missed out on a second yellow jersey of his career, despite having three team-mates in the group of 16.

"It's very frustrating to be edged out like that as everything looked to be going perfectly," he said.

"However, tomorrow I swear I will get it."

The peloton, which contained US defending champion, Lance Armstrong, came in around 20 seconds behind the lead group.

The Texan, who is now 11th overall, defended his working relationship with an Italian doctor, Michele Ferrari, who has been linked to the doping agent EPO.

Speaking before the race, Armstrong said he would "re-evaluate" his association if the physician is found guilty of wrongdoing in an ongoing doping inquiry.

Troubled Brit, David Millar, continued to struggle after his crash on Sunday.

He finished almost seven minutes off the pace and is second to last in the overall standings, more than 13 minutes behind Wauters.

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Stage two results (Calais to Antwerp):
1. Marc Wauters (Bel) 4hr 35min 47sec
2. Arnaud Pretot (Fra)
3. Robert Hunter (Rsa)
4. Servais Knaven (Ned)
5. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) all same time

Overall classification:
1. Marc Wauters (Bel) 9hr 40min 17sec
2. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) at 00:12
3. Servais Knaven (Ned) 00:27
4. Christophe Moreau (Fra) 00:27
5. Jaan Kirsipuu (Est) 00:28
6. Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) 00:28
7. Robert Hunter (Rsa) 00:29
8. Jens Voigt (Ger) 00:30
9. Igor Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) 00:30
10. Bobby Julich (USA) 00:31
11. Lance Armstrong (USA) 00:31
12. Jan Ullrich (Ger) 00:34