2016 Tour de France: Stage 2 News, Notes and Quotes

I didn’t put it down in writing, but seeing an uphill sprint finish on tap for today’s second stage of the 2016 Tour de France meant a short reign in yellow for Mark Cavendish.

Still the Dimension Data team made sure that the yellow jersey shone brightly at the front of the peloton, taking control of the peloton from the start of the race as 4 riders, Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Vegard Breen (Fortuneo), Paul Voss and Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon18) got the early jump on the pack.

With Cavendish protected up at the head of the peloton, Steve Cummings, Daniel Teklehaimanot and Natnael Berhane set a constant tempo for the majority of the stage. Cumming’s showed his strength by controlling proceedings for close on 100km all by himself.

The final 3km saw a constant rise to the finish and this is where the final showdown would take place. Stuyven began the final climb with a minute advantage but it would prove to not be enough. Tinkoff put in a big acceleration to close the gap and set up Sagan for victory.

As expected, the climb saw Cavendish being distanced resulting in the yellow jersey being relinquished to Sagan.

First Yellow Jersey for Sagan

The UCI World Champion will wear the yellow jersey with pride tomorrow for the first time in his career. While pushing hard for the win, Sagan was passed just a few hundred metres from the line, but he hadn’t started his sprint yet, and as he put the power in, he took the win and the yellow jersey on the line.

In typically understated fashion, Peter didn’t realise he had taken the win – or the yellow jersey – until after the stage. “I am very happy as I didn’t know I won today. Thank you to all my team-mates, and especially to Roman Kreuziger. He did the last climb full gas and was pulling all the way. Then in the final I did my best for a third place but it was really for the win.”

Bittersweet Day for Tinkoff

It was a bittersweet day for Tinkoff as team leader Alberto Contador was unlucky enough to be involved in his second crash in two days. Sport Director, Steven De Jongh, explained: “After 55km Alberto had a bad crash again – a rider came down in front of him and he went over and hurt himself, it was just bad luck. That’s the reason why in the final he couldn’t stand up to climb and he blew his legs. That was the reason that he lost time.”

Peter, too, was quick to offer his support to the Spanish rider and was confident he would recover. “Alberto has had a bit of bad luck yesterday and today again. I was very close to him when he came down. It was bad luck and I hope for Alberto that he will heal fast – he will be strong for sure.”

Alaphilippe Moves Into White Jersey

Etixx-QuickStep’s Julian Alaphilippe concluded the day in second place, ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and teammate Daniel Martin.

“The team did a great job controlling the race and bringing me in a good position, despite the rain and the narrow roads. I felt good and gave everything I had, but Sagan was better. In those last 500 meters I was thinking only of taking the victory, as I was feeling strong, but in the end I had to be content with second place. Maybe I started the sprint a bit too early, but to be honest I have no regrets, because I gave it my all and Sagan was simply better, he’s the world champion for a reason”, said 24-year-old Julian, who proved once again what a special talent he is.

As soon as he rolled over the line after what was a grueling finale, the Tour of California winner tried to shrug off the frustration of coming tantalizing close on his maiden World Tour victory, and although it wasn’t easy, he eventually looked on the bright side of things, especially as he was among the few riders to climb on the podium in Cherbourg, where he donned the white jersey: “I was disappointed, but then I cooled down and realized that it’s my first Grand Tour and I still have many things to learn. I also have plenty of reasons to be happy, as I’m now leading the U25 classification and I am in good form. It’s a huge pride to wear the white jersey and I want to thank the entire team for the great help of today. We came second two stages in a row, but at the same time we showed how strong and united we are. Hopefully, we will get a good result in the next days.”

Stuyven Caught, But Gets Dots

After being part of the day’s four man breakaway, Trek-Segafredo’s Jasper Stuyven narrowly lost taking home a prestigious Tour victory in the nail-biting ending, but was first over the final category-three climb to secure the polka dot jersey, and also earned the combative award for the stage. To Stuyven, though, these were little consolation in overcoming the disappointment of missing the victory.

“It’s nice to have the polka dot jersey although I am not really a climber, and it’s nice to be on the podium,” said Stuyven. “It’s a good thing to have this after today, but that was not what I was going for in the final and right now I can only feel disappointment. When you are that close to a stage win in the Tour… In the end, I was starting to believe in the victory, and that makes it a huge disappointment.

“I knew what was coming because we had a video of the finish from Josu (Larrazabal, Head of Performance). I knew it was going to be hard, so I just tried to spin, keep a high cadence and keep the power going. Everything was going well until the steepest part, right after the roundabout, I had a really hard moment to push the watts. My legs were empty.

“I looked back at the top of the KOM and saw a Tinkoff guy coming, and I knew they were pulling for Sagan, and they were not going to slow down. You know then it’s over. Then you hear they are coming, and they pass you, and you just crack.

“I am disappointed because maybe I won’t get this close again. I had good legs, and I knew I was the strongest of the group, but when you don’t win it’s always a feeling a little bit of disappointment.

“I tried my best. This is the Tour, and I came here to not just be one of the 200 riders. I wanted to show myself; I felt good yesterday already and today I was aiming higher. It was nice to be up there in the Tour and maybe tonight and tomorrow I will be more happy with what I have done.”