2017 Tour de France: Stage 2 News, Notes and Quotes

Like Stage 1, Stage 2 of the 2017 Tour de France was not without the usual trials, triumphs  and tribulations. Let’s get into the news!

Valverde Undergoes Surgery:

Alejandro Valverde successfully underwent surgery last night at Düsseldorf’s University Hospital to fix some of the injuries sustained at his race-ending crash, Saturday, on the opening TT of the 2017 Tour de France. The operation not only consisted on healing his most serious fracture -the kneecap of his left leg-, but also took care of and closed two important wounds at Alejandro’s tibia and gluteus. The talus fracture in his left ankle did not require any intervention.

Surgery started just before midnight and lasted three hours, after which the Spanish rider was taken back to his room at around 5am on Sunday. Valverde will stay in Germany for at least two more days before returning to Spain to start his recovery, which is expected to take a few months.

Stage 2 Crash Takes Down Half of Peloton:

The peloton travelled from Germany to Belgium on stage 2 of the Tour de France, where they faced cold and rain for the majority of the stage.

A huge crash with 30km to go brought down half the peloton, including G.C. hopeful Richie Porte and others. Porte was able to get up quickly and resume racing while behind, his teammates were forced to chase back or left waiting for a new bike.

“I came out of the crash ok but there were a few guys that went down a lot harder. It was a stressful day,” said Porte after the race. “It was the first real stage of the Tour and then you get the rain, then it dries up, and then starts raining again. It was a nice one to come through and it’s nice to get the first crash out of the way and get on with it. Hopefully my knee is ok, I have a little bit of a bang on that, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Rüdiger Selig experienced the crash first hand, hitting the floor and struggling to recover, but the German sprinter loved riding on home territory today. “I am not satisfied today, because I know I can do better. However, I went down in the crash and afterwards my legs felt a little blocked. The crowds in Germany were awesome – I have never seen so many people on the road and that made me really proud today.”

Ag2R LaMondiale saw Romain Bardet and Axel Domont go down in the crash

“We were racing at the front of the peloton,” said Bardet. “I was in a good position. There was a bit of a chicane in the road, and everyone slammed on the brakes, so I was carried along by the riders in front of me. It’s never good to crash, but this was okay.

“I hope I will have a good night’s sleep. I was able to get back up on my bike very quickly, and the whole team surrounded me, so I lost no time. It could have been much worse, and so our morale is excellent still. I hope that Axel Domont, who was more injured in the crash than I was, will not suffer the effects too much tomorrow.”

Domont is in “wait and see” mode. “The x-ray did not detect any fractures. But I had difficulty pushing the pedals at the end of the stage. After my shower and the first aid I have received, I already feel a little better. The final verdict will come tomorrow when I get on the bike again.”

The peloton slowed down in the nervous aftermath of the crash to allow riders to chase back, and in doing so enabled the breakaway of Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) to maintain their advantage.

Crash Enables Bunch Sprint

Phinney and Ofreddo were caught with 2km to go, setting up what was left of the peloton for a bunch sprint.

Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) was the first across the line, but he was closely tailed by sprinters Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data).

“The stage started perfectly for us,” said Greipel. “There was a front group of four with a small lead. Thomas De Gendt immediately started pulling in the peloton and got help from Julien Vermote of Quick-Step. Soon, other teams followed. We didn’t have to do all the work. At the end we had to do a major effort, as Offredo and Phinney still had energy left.

“As a team we could line up, we were well positioned. There was a headwind in the last kilometre and the last 200 metres were slightly uphill. No rider had a teammate ahead of him anymore. Peter Sagan was in the lead too early and held back, and so everyone did. Start the sprint with 250 metres to go was still too soon, so I had to wait. Kittel was very strong and deserved the win. It is very promising that I was in the mix for the stage win.”

Mark Cavendish proved to be back in shape as he finished in fourth place. Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka did well to set up Cavendish and in the chaotic bunch sprint, the Manxman impressed with a strong finish.

Peter Sagan, however, got boxed in when he started his sprint and was unable to find a gap, leaving him to finish in tenth spot.

From the finish, Sagan was thankful to his teammates for bringing him safely to the finish, but was disappointed with how the sprint unfolded. “Today’s second stage of the Tour went well for the team. The guys worked really hard under difficult conditions to bring me safely to the front for the final sprint. Unfortunately I started too early and then got closed by Colbrelli. There isn’t much more to say – my sprint wasn’t very good. I feel in good form though, and we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Riding Wounded:

Tony Gallopin finished the stage today after he hurt his ankle in yesterday’s time trial. “It hurt when I had to accelerate or ride uphill,” he said. “I am glad I reached the finish. I will try to survive and take it day by day. This situation is far from perfect, but I don’t want to give up.”

Taylor Phinney takes KOM Lead:

With a long-awaited Tour start came three years later than planned, Taylor Phinney opened the 2017 Tour de France in 12th place in the stage one individual time trial. The result put him in a position to chase polka dots on stage two.

Phinney seized the opportunity, snagging the stage two’s only two available mountain points. He pulled on the first red-and-white-spotted jersey at the 104th edition of the Tour de France in Liége on Sunday.

“This was the plan this morning,” said Phinney. “To go out and get the KOM jersey. To have a plan work out on the first day of the race is great for the team. It impacts the general flow of things when we start off on a good note. This is my first year with the team, and I’m happy to be the guy that can remix the ignition as R. Kelley would say.”

“We got out there on the road today and we were running in the breakaway, and it felt like a dream,” said Phinney. “You’re racing a bike race but there are so many people out there. And you’re like – what is this? This is unreal. This is the Tour de France.”