Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Tour de France Stage 2 Analysis

Stage two did not disappoint in terms of drama and excitement. It came down to an exciting finish between some of the worlds best, and in the end a new rider claimed the yellow jersey.

Tour de France Stage 2 Analysis

First Time in Yellow

Peter Sagan has accomplished a lot in his career already, but one thing he had yet to obtain was the yellow jersey at the Tour de France.  After coming up short yesterday it appeared that he might get another shot today, and he did. In an exciting finish Sagan out sprinted Julian Alaphilippe at the line to claim the stage win.

Initially he thought that there were two riders that had already crossed head of him, but was surprised when he was told he’d won. He was joined by team owner Oleg Tinkov in the media area shortly after to celebrate. This was well deserved as the team did a terrific job to get him in position to win. It’s his first career yellow jersey and mostly likely the first of many to come.

Contador Nightmare

After crashing in yesterday’s opening stage, Alberto Contador met with more bad luck today. The incident happened just before the half way mark of the stage and left other riders on the deck as well. Fortunately their were no visible injuries this time around, but two crashes in two days isn’t how he wanted to start.

Not only was he met with a crash, but he also lost time to the other general classification contenders. He crossed the line 48 seconds down on Chris Froome and Nairo Quintanta to put him in 62nd place overall. On the bright side anything can happen in the tour, and there is still a long way to go.

Porte in Trouble /strong>

Richie Porte joined Contador in the bad luck department today when he picked up a flat tire. The Australian had to wait for the neutral service vehicle to come and help. In the process he lost a considerable amount of time and ended up crossing the finish line 1:44 down to Sagan. He currently sits in 81st place overall.

Stuyven Almost Wins

A group of five riders comprised the breakaway today and they were out in front for a considerable amount of time. The peloton were slower to bring the gap down today, with the wet surface being one of the reasons. As the riders approached the final 20 kilometers of the race it appeared that the breakaway had a chance to stay ahead. With 17 kilometers to go Trek-Factory Racing’s Jasper Stuyven went on the attack to try and hold on.

The race data displayed on televisions around the world showed that he had a gap of over a minute to work with when he came across the Flamme Rouge. Unfortunately this was incorrect. He was caught with 500 meters to go and a brave effort came up just short. His efforts did allow him to pick up the polka-dot jersey in the process, which he will wear starting tomorrow.

General Classification Riders

For most of the other general classification riders, today was another safe day. Warren Barguil had another strong finish in today’s stage, as he moves into fourth overall in the classification standings. Froome and Quintant finished in the same group for the second day in a row. Both riders teams have done a terrific job thus far of avoiding trouble.

Some notable riders that lost time were Vincenzo Nibali, Thibaut Pinot, and Louis Meintjes. They all finished 11 seconds down on the peloton.

No Abandons 

There were no abandons following yesterdays crash in the final sprint. A remarkable feat after it appeared that at least a few would have to call it quits. Katusha rider Michael Morkov took the worst of the crash when he slammed into the barrier. He was back on the bike today along with Sam Bennett who was also cut up in the crash. This is another example of why cyclists are among the toughest athletes in the world.

Stage Highlights

 

Twitter Reaction

Stage 2 Stats

 

Stage Results 

 

General Classification Standings

Points Classification 

  1. Peter Sagan (87 Pts)
  2. Mark Cavendish (63 Pts)
  3. Marcel Kittel (50 Pts)
  4. Andre Greipel (40 Pts)
  5. Julian Alaphilippe (33 Pts)

Overall Team Classification 

  1. Orica Bike-Exchange
  2. Team Sky
  3. Movistar
  4. FDJ
  5. Astana

King of the Mountains 

  1. Jasper Stuyven (4 Pts)
  2. Paul Voss (2 Pts)
  3. Vegard Breen (1 Pts)
  4. Roman Kreuziger (1 Pts)

Youth Classification

  1.  Julian Alaphilippe
  2. Warren Barguil
  3. Wilco Kelderman
  4. Adam Yates
  5. Louis Meintjes

 

Main Photo:

Share:

More Posts

Send Us A Message