Marcel Kittel won Stage 2 of the 2017 Tour de France after coming from behind in the final kilometer and storming past all his rivals on the way to his tenth career victory at the race.
The pressure of the first road stage and the pouring rain which accompanied the peloton as they left Düsseldorf made for a very hectic day on the bike, despite the predominantly flat parcours which pointed to a bunch gallop in Liège, the most visited foreign city in the race’s history, which was welcoming the Tour de France for the 11th time, nearly seven decades after the first stop here.
Four riders made it into the breakaway – Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie), Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac) and Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo-Oscaro) – and despite having a maximum advantage of only three minutes, it was no easy task for the bunch to reel them in, mainly due to a crash which occurred in the final 30 kilometers and disrupted the chase.
Julien Vermote, who took the front of the pack soon after the flag was dropped, moved again to the head of the pack and his fantastic and selfless effort saw the gap of Offredo and Phinney drop rapidly. In the closing kilometers, the entire Quick-Step Floors was amassed to the front and reabsorbed the duo just before the flamme rouge arch, but the frantic chase of the peloton meant the bunch sprint was a disorganized one, without any team controlling the affair.
Fabio Sabatini and Matteo Trentin guided Marcel Kittel through the final kilometer, and the 29-year-old patiently bided his time before his huge acceleration and sheer power carried him to victory in a pulsating sprint, ahead of Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal).
“Starting from Germany and having such good legs on the first day gave me a lot of confidence. I’m glad to give the fans a first German win here at the Tour de France. It was a great experience to ride through Düsseldorf and Germany, the fans were outstanding and I’m proud to see these huge crowds supporting us. It’s a memory I will never forget”, an emotional Marcel said after the stage at the end of which he moved into the green jersey, as well as to the overall podium.
Arrival / Marcel KITTEL (GER) Celebration / Andre GREIPEL (GER)/ Arnaud DEMARE (FRA)/ Sonny COLBRELLI (ITA)/
Dusseldorf – Liege (203,5km)/ TDF/ © Tim De Waele
“Matteo and Fabio brought me there with 500 meters to go and from that point I jumped from wheel to wheel,” said Kittel. “It was an advantage to come relatively late, as I knew that having headwind will make things difficult, so that’s why I waited before opening my sprint. I want to thank the guys, they showed once again a great mentality and an incredible team spirit!”
Not only did he rack up his tenth career victory in the Tour de France, but Kittel also made history by sprinting to the win on a disc brake bike, the beautiful Specialized Venge: “I wasn’t thinking about this record before the stage, but I must admit it makes me proud to be the first rider who wins a stage here in these conditions. I sincerely believe the disc brakes are a major improvement and give you better control, especially on rainy days as today.”
Stage 2 Brief Results:
- Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 4:37:06″
- Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) ST
- Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto)
- Mark Cavendish (Britain / Dimension Data)
- Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands / LottoNL)
- Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain)
- Ben Swift (Britain / UAE Team Emirates)
- Nacer Bouhanni (France / Cofidis)
- Michael Matthews (Australia / Sunweb)
- Peter Sagan (Slovakia / BORA)
General Classification After Stage 2:
- Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 4:53:10″
- Stefan Kueng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) +5″
- Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) +6″
- Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus / Team Sky) +7″
- Matteo Trentin (Italy / Quick-Step) +10″
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) +12″
- Jos van Emden (Netherlands / LottoNL) +15″
- Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland / Team Sky)
- Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway / Dimension Data) +16″
- Nikias Arndt (Germany / Sunweb)
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