With a bandage covering his left hand, Juan Josà Haedo had plenty to lose Tuesday afternoon.

The Team CSC rider crashed and broke a bone at the bottom of his hand a month ago. Another fall with another break likely would mean the end of his season.

Haedo took a gamble, sprinted past trouble late and won Stage 2 of the Tour de Georgia at Augusta Common.

Haedo, who edged Greg Henderson of Team High Road at the finish line in a time of 4:32.35, said he knew of the crash that developed behind him around the final turn.

"You can't even look back," he said, "because you can make another crash."

Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez, the Stage 1 winner, also avoided disaster. He surged late and finished third to retain the yellow jersey. He leads the overall standings by 3 seconds over Henderson and 4 seconds over Haedo.

"This jersey is getting heavy now," Dominguez said with a laugh. "The team's really, really fast. They took me all the way to the front."

Stage 2 began in Statesboro. Riders trekked 116 miles to Augusta and then into North Augusta, the first time the tour has ventured into South Carolina.

Riders pedaled two laps from downtown Augusta to North Augusta and back. On the final lap, Dominguez broke free from the large peloton before getting chased down by Haedo and Henderson.

"I knew they were going to pass me," Dominguez said. "Those two guys were going faster than me."

Dominiguez took home the Sprint Leader jersey after earning more points than any other rider during the two sprint stages.

Frank Pipp of Health Net won the tour's first King of the Mountain jersey for 2008. Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson was awarded the stage's Best Young Rider (25 years or younger) jersey, while Rhys Pollock of GE Marco Polo was named Most Aggressive Rider.

The tour enjoyed a pleasant spring day with a festive crowd filling the Augusta Common for the Health & Wellness Expo, as well as the first stage finish in the city's four-year involvement with the Tour de Georgia.

"It's another great event for Augusta, Georgia," mayor Deke Copenhaver said. "It's a pleasure to host this finish. We hope the tour will come back year after year after year."

Haedo departed Augusta with a new demeanor.

In the Tour de Georgia's first stage, Haedo said the 72-mile sprint bothered his injured hand. He broke it four weeks ago while training in Spain. A dog ran out into the road, in front of the motorcycle ahead of him. When the motorcycle braked, Haedo had nowhere to go.

He said Tuesday his hand felt better, even though he told his team he wasn't feeling good enough to sprint. Haedo changed his mind, saved his energy and made his own way.

"I just took a chance," he said. "I got in good position."

He avoided trouble as racers crashed in the last turn off Broad Street in the short stretch from Eighth Street to Reynolds Street.

"It's a good confident win here when you're not 100 percent," Haedo said. "I'm trying to build up for the races in Europe."

The Tour de Georgia resumes today with a start in Washington and a finish in Gainesville. The race will continue through the north Georgia mountains before concluding Sunday in Atlanta.