German rider Andre Greipel won a rain-drenched second stage of the 2015 Tour de France in a sprint finish on Sunday, while defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and Tour contender Nairo Quintana lost valuable time after dropping behind the front group.
As the riders approached the finish, Briton Mark Cavendish attacked first but Greipel timed his riposte perfectly to overtake him near the line for his seventh Tour stage win.
Cavendish was caught by Peter Sagan and Swiss veteran Fabian Cancellara, who took the race leader’s yellow jersey from overnight leader Rohan Dennis.
The 34-year-old Cancellara, who first wore the Tour yellow jersey in 2004, is riding in his last Tour.
“Now everything is a bonus,” said Cancellara, who finished third in Saturday’s opening stage amid punishingly hot conditions. “I had to find the energy to do the sprint, I had no energy left from yesterday.”
The course, which took the riders along the Dutch coastline toward the heart of the Zeeland Delta, proved treacherous as heavy winds and driving rain caused splits throughout the field.
They managed to get in the front group along with Greipel, Cavendish and the other sprinters. Froome finished seventh, and gained four seconds on Contador, who crossed the line in 13th.
Nibali, Quintana and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot all rolled in 1 minute, 28 seconds behind. That deficit could hurt them when the race hits the mountains later on
“This is a huge advantage for us to be sitting in this position after one flat day out on the road,”‘ Froome said. “But this is a three-week race and things do change on a daily basis. We’re ahead today but who knows what’s in store for us for the rest of the week?”
Sunday’s 166-kilometer (103-mile) trek started out from the Dutch city of Utrecht, where Dennis had won Saturday’s individual time trial in a record average time.
“It turned out to be hectic, chaos, wind, rain,” Cancellara said. “It turned from beautiful weather to a situation we didn’t expect to be in.”
Wilco Kelderman, Geraint Thomas – Froome’s Team Sky teammate – and Thomas De Gendt all fell following an intermediate sprint as the stage passed through the Dutch city of Rotterdam. They got back on their bikes to continue.
Later, Australian rider Adam Hansen fell off his bike, got back on clutching his right shoulder and with his legs caked in dirt. Then, Nacer Bouhanni – barely recovered from a heavy crash at the French championships last weekend – was one of several involved in a spill at the back of the front group that Nibali narrowly avoided.
It was the Italian rider’s only bit of luck.
Quintana was huddled into a third group even further behind, but the Colombian managed to catch up with Nibali and the yellow jersey group, which had now drifted about a minute behind Froome, Contador and the front-runners.
“One second Nibali was next to me, and the next I couldn’t believe it when I heard he was distanced,” Froome said. “‘I’m very thankful to my teammates for keeping me in front all day and especially when it mattered, when the split took place. Two days gone now and I couldn’t really hope for more.'”
With 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) remaining, Nibali’s day got even more difficult.
He pulled up on the side of the road with a puncture to his front right tire and, with no teammates around him, had to catch up to the yellow jersey group by riding several kilometers on his own.
The stage finish in the heart of the Zeeland Delta offered a wild and spectacular backdrop.
Riders rode over a pier with waves crashing beneath them, and then snaked through treacherously narrow streets packed with crowds. Earlier, those brave fans had been protecting themselves any way they could as the rain came bucketing down, but by the time the riders arrived the sun pierced through the dark clouds overhead.
The Tour swings into nearby Belgium on Monday for stage three.
Stage 2 Brief Results:
- Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 3:29:03″
- Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Tinkoff – Saxo) ST
- Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / Trek)
- Mark Cavendish (Britain / Etixx – Quick-Step)
- Daniel Oss (Italy / BMC Racing)
- Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing)
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky)
- Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Giant)
- Tony Martin (Germany / Etixx – Quick-Step)
- Warren Barguil (France / Giant)
- Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing) +4″
- Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky)
- Alberto Contador (Spain / Tinkoff – Saxo)
- Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Etixx – Quick-Step)
- Tony Gallopin (France / Lotto)
- Mark Renshaw (Australia / Etixx – Quick-Step)
- Marcel Sieberg (Germany / Lotto)
- Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Tinkoff – Saxo)
- Michael Schaer (Switzerland / BMC Racing) +8″
- Michael Rogers (Australia / Tinkoff – Saxo)
General Classification After Stage 2:
- Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / Trek) 3:44:01″
- Tony Martin (Germany / Etixx – Quick-Step) +3″
- Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Giant) +6″
- Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Tinkoff – Saxo) +33″
- Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) +35″
- Daniel Oss (Italy / BMC Racing) +42″
- Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Etixx – Quick-Step)
- Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing) +44″
- Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing) +48″
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky)
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