Tour de France 2016: Stage 2

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January 1 - July 24, Saint-Lô, France, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of stage 2 of the 2016 Tour de France, 183 kilometres from Saint-Lô to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.

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The Tour de France remains in the Manche département for stage 2, but it's rather punchier fare on the road from Saint-Lô to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, and the uphill finish that follows the short sharp climb of the Côte de La Glacerie in the finale will surely rule out the pure sprinters from contention.

There is, of course, a fast man atop the standings this morning. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) emerged victorious in the mass finish at Utah Beach to claim the first maillot jaune of the race - and the first of his career after 27 stage wins.

The general classification picture is as follows ahead of stage 2:

Speaking to Cyclingnews at the Dimension Data team hotel this morning, Cavendish admitted that he was unlikely to defend his yellow jersey. "Although today will be difficult we want to honour the jersey," Cavendish said. "Today could be a day of Edvald Boasson Hagen but he was a bit banged up yesterday from his crash. We’re about to have a team meeting and we’ll go from there."

Cavendish has chosen an understated way to mark his first day in the yellow jersey, limiting the yellow accoutrements on his bike to handlebar tape and pedals. You can see a gallery of his tweaked Cervelo S5 here.

Cherbourg was a staple of the Tour route in the early part of the 20th century but remarkably, today is only the second time that the town has featured in La Grande Boucle since World War II. The stage features three category 4 climbs: the Côte de Torigny-des-Villes after 10 kilometres, the Côte de Montabot after 23 kilometres and the Côte de Montpinchon after 52 kilometres. The finale, meanwhile, is built around the short but tough Côte de La Glacerie. 1.9km in length at an average gradient of 6.5% but with slopes of 14%, it provides a real sting in the tail to today’s stage. The summit is just 1.5 kilometres from the finish, and after the briefest of descents, the road pitches up sharply once again in the final kilometre for what could be a very select uphill sprint finish.

The neutralised start in Saint-Lô is at 12.40 local time, a little under ten minutes from now, with the peloton due to reach kilometre zero at 1pm.

The fraught opening days of the Tour de France are always synonymous with crashes and yesterday's leg to Utah Beach was no different. Michael Morkov (Katusha) fell heavily in the finishing straight but the Dane is currently warming up on the rollers outside his team bus and is due to start the stage. 

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) is also still in the race despite his crash on yesterday's stage. We should have an update on Contador's condition from the start shortly, but already yesterday evening, the Spaniard was guardedly optimistic that he had not done himself any irreperable damage on stage 1. Contador did pick up some nasty abrasions to his right shoulder, and that might limit him on today's punchy finale. Nairo Quintana, Chris Froome et al will be watching him in the peloton this afternoon with interest.

Indeed, as Alasdair Fotheringham points out, today's finale could see some of the GC contenders at this Tour show their hands, rather like the stage to Mur de Huy a year ago or to Sheffield in 2014 - though it might well end up a shoot-out between finisseurs like Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff). 

All 198 riders have signed on and have been flagged away from the depart fictif in Saint-Lô. Grey skies greeted the Tour peloton ahead of the start, though the rain has at least abated for now, as they negotiate the neutralised zone.

Tinkoff directeur sportif Steven de Jongh spoke to Cyclingnews a short time ago and conceded that the fall-out from Contador's crash yesterday could have been a whole lot worse. The full story will be online soon, but here's a taster of the mood from the Tinkoff camp ahead of stage 2. "I’m counting on Alberto’s rivals putting him under pressure," De Jongh says. "That’s what I would do if I was a rival. Today we just hope for the best and hope that he can be there for the final. It was a hard impact but there’s no chance of Alberto stopping. Last year in the Giro when he dislocated his shoulder I was really worried but I’m confident he can be okay now.”

Chris Froome (Sky) has insisted that he isn’t setting out with the express intention of putting the injured Contador under pressure this afternoon. In truth, Froome probably doesn’t have to. This the Tour de France, after all, and everyday somebody sets out trying to put ‘em under pressure and inflict his race on the opposition in the manner of Jack Charlton circa 1990.

 

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Here's Steven de Jongh's full take on Contador's condition after yesterday's crash, including an apology to Brent Bookwalter and the assertion that Peter Sagan "is an animal."

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Dimension Data seem more than happy to give the break their head for the moment, particularly given that maillot jaune Mark Cavendish has effectively ruled himself out of the running for the stage win this afternoon. “There’s 20 days left and you can’t burn the candle at both ends. We have to get back to business. For me and the team it’s an honour to wear the yellow jersey and we’ll defend it with honour,” Cavendish said at the start. “Once upon a time I would have been quite up for this stage but there’s more puncheurs around and it’s a stage for Edvald [Boasson Hagen] who did a great ride yesterday. He’s a bit banged up but he did a fantastic job for us yesterday. We’ll do what we can for him and try and put him in the best position. I want to do the jersey justice, it’s a big day for the team and for Africa.”

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Jasper Stuyven leads the break over the Côte de Montabot and picks up the lone king of the mountains point on offer, meaning that Voss maintains his hold on the polka dot jersey for now. The day's third ascent is the Côte de Montpinchon after 52 kilometres.

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Chris Froome spoke to Cyclingnews at the start on topics beyond applying pressure to Alberto Contador, and the two-time Tour winner reckons today's finale could prove to be a particularly hectic one.

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Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange) was caught up in yesterday's finishing straight crash but the Australian emerged relatively unscathed and is one of the favourites for today's uphill finale. "We have a good game plan and possibly three guys who can win the stage. Everyone gets their chance to win but we’re racing together, we have a plan and we just have to stick to it. My climbing form is good. It’s going to be a tough stage but I just hope everyone stays safe. It’s going to be hard one," Matthews said. "I probably came off the best in the crash. The way I landed, I landed on [Sam] Bennett’s bike. I only have a few scratches on the back of my leg and that’s it. I don’t know what caused it. I just saw bikes flying everywhere and rolling down the road. It sucks and it wasn’t necessary as we weren’t sprinting for the win. I’m okay and that’s the main thing."

Speaking at his hotel before the start, Alberto Contador conceded that he was feeling the effects of his crash this morning. "I had a very big crash. I’m not feeling that great at the moment. My body hurts," Contador said. "I’ve woken up feeling bad and today’s going to be tough, but I hope not to lose time. But in the end I was lucky, I’m able to get back on my bike today. I’ll have to take every day as it comes and see what happens. My morale is strong.”

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While there are two Bora-Argon 18 riders in the day's break, the team's sprinter Sam Bennett will be hoping simply to survive to the finish after crashing in the finishing straight yesterday. The Irishman required stitches to an arm injury but he sounded an optimistic note about his prospects before the start. "It was a long day and I slept ok, so I feel good," he said. "I think it was mainly the barriers that caused the crash. I think a few guys got tangled together and came down in front of me and I couldn’t react in time. I hit them and came down hard. It hurt a bit. Anytime the leadout guys are coming back and guys are moving up for the sprint, they’re going to meet at some point."

Out in front, meanwhile, Bora-Argon 18 are up to the same tricks as yesterday ahead of the day's third climb, the Côte de Montpinchon. Benedetti jumps away alone from the break in a bid to snaffle the king of the mountains point.

Stuyven and Breen bridge up to Benedetti as leaden drops of rain fall over the Tour de France.

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The rain is beginning to fall more steadily over the peloton, where Steve Cummings rides on the front for Dimension Data, with Cavendish sitting in fifth wheel.

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Cadel Evans may have taken his leave in 2014, but the playbook remains the same at BMC. Tejay van Garderen and Richie Porte sit in the centre of a phalanx of teammates near the front, just behind the pace-setters from Dimension Data.

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Contador stands and waits for a spare bike with the quiet exasperation of a man who has inadvertently upgraded to Windows 10 rather than the urgency of a rider whose Tour de France challenge is on the line. A mechanic duly produces a replacement machine and Contador calmly sets off in pursuit of the peloton.

Contador was some two minutes behind the peloton by the time he remounted, but like yesterday, there has been a general slackening of the pace and the Spaniard should be back on board shortly.

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Contador has rejoined the main peloton. Others who were caught up in that incident - and who seem to have rejoined the bunch - are Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Michael Matthews, Joaquim Rodriguez and Tony Martin.

Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) has been struggling towards the rear of the peloton in the past few kilometres. The Irishman was, of course, among the riders to go down in the crash in the finishing straight of yesterday's stage at Utah Beach.

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Brecht Decaluwé, whose boys took one hell of a beating against Wales on Friday night, has bravely recovered from that Euro 2016 disappointment and he spoke to Lotto Soudal’s Tony Gallopin at the start in Saint-Lô this morning. “This is a finish for ‘punchers’ so it’s clear that this is a finish that suits me. A stage victory probably brings along the maillot jaune. I’ll try the best I can do today,” Gallopin told Cyclingnews this morning. “I don’t know the finish and didn’t do a recon. I tried to gather as much info as I can on the internet but didn’t do a training ride over there. It would be formidable to get the jersey and keep it a few days.”

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Contador has divested himself of his race cape and is now sitting surrounded by teammates in the centre of the peloton. A relaxed Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is happy to avail of the shelter afforded by the Tinkoff delegation.

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The irrepressible Decaluwé caught up with Etixx-QuickStep's Julian Alaphilippe at the start. The Frenchman is one of a number of options for Patrick Lefevere's squad today, given that Dan Martin and Petr Vakoc might well fancy their chances this afternoon. “It’s my first Tour de France. I’m here to help the team the best way I can. It’ll be hard. The final kilometres are a long string of small roads through the city and small climbs. At the end of a long day it’ll be very nervous with the rain and very fast," Alaphilippe said. "We have nice cards to play in the team with Petr Vakoc, Maximiliano Richeze, Dan Martin and me. It’s a final that suits me. We’ll see how the legs go. There’s a dozen of riders who can win here like Simon Gerrans, Valverde, Peter Sagan, Edvald Boasson Hagen but he crashed yesterday.”

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It's worth noting that there's quite a stiff wind on the course this afternoon, and the break is currently grinding into a headwind. The race has been relatively well sheltered thus far, though that situation may change when the route reaches the coast shortly.

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The leading quartet approaches the feed zone at Bretteville with a lead of 6:08 over the peloton. At the rear of the bunch, meanwhile, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) suffers a puncture and Alexander Vinokourov himself emerges from the team car to lend a hand.

Speaking of Vinokourov, this Stephen Farrand interview from earlier in the season is well worth a read. "What do more do you want me to say? I made a mistake and I paid the price for that mistake. I was suspended for two years and then came back," Vinokourov said of his 2007 doping ban, a topic he has never really discussed in any detail. "And I was allowed to come back. I was like anyone who goes to prison; I paid my dues and now I'm allowed to be back. "

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A delegation from Tinkoff moves towards the front. The intermediate sprint is just ten kilometres away, and they may want to set things up for Peter Sagan. But equally, the race is heading towards more exposed roads near the coast, and the risk of echelons is rising by the minute. The immediate aim, mind, was simply to pick up their musettes at the feed zone in safety at the front of the peloton.

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Despite coming a cropper in yesterday's finishing straight crash, Edvald Boasson Hagen is the man most likely for Dimension Data on today's stiff finale. “I was on the left side and suddenly I was on the floor. We’ll have to see how I feel but it seems ok. I just have scratches and some pain on the back," the Norwegian said at the start. "The body feels ok. I saw the finish and it seems nice.”

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Back in the main peloton, a group from Direct Energie moves towards the front to lead out Coquard in the battle for fifth place at the intermediate sprint.

The pace has stiffened discernibly in the bunch on the approach to this intermediate sprint. A delegation from Katusha is also on hand for Alexander Kristoff.

It looks as though Greipel - just - edged out Kittel and Kristoff to take fifth place in that sprint, though it was a close-run thing. Cavendish and Sagan were a little further behind that trio.

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Two years ago, stage 2 of the Tour de France had a similarly sinuous finale in Sheffield and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) emerged victorious, but the Sicilian has pinpointed Etixx-QuickStep duo Dan Martin and Julian Alaphilippe as the dangermen today. “I’m very tranquillo, we’ve only had one stage, and we haven’t taken any risks so far, so we’ll see how it goes day by day,” said Nibali. He lines out in a free role in an Astana team led by debutant Fabio Aru, who celebrates his 26th birthday today.

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Grey skies and low cloud redolent of Jacques Brel hang over the Tour de France once more, but the rain looks to be holding off for the time being.

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Dan Martin placed second on a finale for puncheurs at Mur de Bretagne a year ago, but the Irishman has at least one eye on the general classification this time around and has suggested that his Etixx-QuickStep teammate Julian Alaphilippe might be a better bet this afternoon. "It’s going to be an intense finish, hopefully the rain holds off," Martin said at the start. "The stage result will look after itself. If I’ve got the legs, I’ll try something."

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Delegations from Sky, Astana and Tinkoff are also settling into position towards the front. This is the prelude to beginning of the endgame... It's been a rather slow-burning stage, but the finale ought to be a fraught one.

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The pace has begun to ratchet up in earnest in the main field, and the peloton has been strung into a line accordingly. Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) and Michael Morkov (Katusha), who each fell heavily in the final kilometre yesterday, have been distanced, and they face a tough, tough final hour of racing.

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IAM Cycling have taken over the pace-making duties at the head of the peloton. BMC, Astana and Direct Energie are also on hand.

A determined group from Orica-BikeExchange moves up on the right-hand side of the peloton, Can Michael Matthews and Simon Gerrans dovetail their efforts this afternoon? Their previous record in that regard is not altogether encouraging, it must be said.

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At this point, no one team is taking responsibility for the chase, but with so many teams scrambling for positions near the front, the pace has upped simply as a matter of course. The break's lead suffers accordingly...

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The peloton is shrouded by mist, mind, but it's touch and go as to whether the heavens will open before this sinuous finale.

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It's going to be a breathless finale, so it's worth taking a glance at Alasdair Fotheringham's reconnaissance of the closing kilometres now. The race tackles the unclassified  Côte d’Octeville with 7.5 kilometres to go before the denouement on the outskirts of Cherbourg. 

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Geraint Thomas (Sky) suffered a mechanical problem at a most inopportune time and he is chasing back on through the convoy of team cars, 30 seconds behind the peloton.

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And then there were three... Voss' teammate Benedetti has been distanced on this last rise and the Italian might well struggle to latch back on.

Tinkoff, BMC, Astana and Direct Energie each have trains towards the front of a peloton that is hurtling along at speeds touching 70kph.

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The narrow roads and the twists and the turns of the finale could play into the break's hands, mind. A Tour peloton is an unwieldy thing at the best of times, never mind on roads such as these.

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Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) rides on the front of the peloton in support of his teammate Bryan Coquard. The gap drops under three minutes for the first time.

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Jasper Stuyven, Vegard Breen and Paul Voss approach the lower slopes of the Côte d’Octeville. This could be the point where their lead starts to dwindle, but they had quite a buffer entering these final 10 kilometres..

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The Côte d’Octeville could prove fatal to this break. The three leaders' pace drops markedly as they begin the climb.

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Back in the main peloton, Etixx-QuickStep take up the reins on the Côte d’Octeville in support of Dan Martin and Alaphilippe.

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Richie Porte is scrambling to get back on but the Tasmanian is destined to lose ground today.

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Stuyven still leads with 500 metres to go as the road climbs again...

Kreuziger leads the peloton as they catch Stuyven with Sagan on his wheel...

Sagan hits the front early but he hasn't gone full on just yet..

Julian Alaphilippe opens his sprint and hits the front...

But Sagan comes around him to claim the win...

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) wins stage 2 of the Tour de France.

Alaphilippe was second and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) third, while Dan Martin and Michael Matthews were just behind.

Alberto Contador was shaken loose in the finale. The Spaniard crosses the line almost 50 seconds down, and he will lose time to Froome, Quintana et al. Contador's Tour challenge is already very complicated indeed.

Richie Porte comes in 1:45 down after his puncture 5 kilometres from the line.

Cavendish rolls home just behind Porte. The Manxman will concede his yellow jersey to Sagan.

Result:

General classification after stage 2:

Peter Sagan speaks after the finish. "I’m very surprised I won because I was thinking there were still two guys in front. The team today made a very big job. Roman Kreuziger helped me a lot on the last climb. He pulled all the climb until 500 metres to go,” says Sagan, who will wear the yellow jersey for the first time. “It’s very nice, the first time in my career. It’s unbelievable, I’m already wearing a very nice jersey but yellow is something special.”

It was something of a pyrrhic victory for Tinkoff. Roman Kreuziger's impressive stint of pace-making on the final climb helped to drag Sagan back into contention - but did it also cause Contador to be blown out the back of the group of GC contenders? 

Though one might argue, of course, that a struggling Contador was likely to lose ground no matter who was setting the tempo on the front in the finale. Still, the Spaniard conceded 48 seconds to the other GC contenders. Richie Porte, meanwhile, lost 1:45 after his puncture.

Fabio Aru (Astana), Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin), Tejay van Garderen, Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Mikel Landa (Sky) all finished with Froome and Quintana in the front group of 26 riders.

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) conceded 11 seconds in the finale. Geraint Thomas (Sky) lost 24, while Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) lost 41 seconds.

Sagan celebrates on the podium after landing his first Tour de France stage win since 2013, and 'only' his fifth in total, which incidentally matches the haul of Sean Kelly. When a man is competing day in day out for the green jersey, stage wins have historically been hard to come by...

Sagan’s raw strength has never been in doubt, but he has faced justified criticism for his tactical acumen over the years. Since winning the world title in Richmond last Autumn, however, the Slovak’s decision-making has been much improved, and this win was a victory of the head as much as of the legs. After Kreuziger swung over, Sagan found himself on the front a touch too early, but he smartly allowed Alaphilippe to move up past him before opening his finishing sprint closer to the finish. The Sagan of twelve months ago might not have been as clear of thought in that situation.

Tinkoff directeur sportif Sean Yates, meanwhile, has spoken to Eurosport after the finish. "One has to be happy for Peter because he hit the goals he set out to hit, he won the stage most suited to him and took yellow so one cannot be anything but happy for him. On the other side of the coin we’re depressed for want of a better word over what happened to Alberto. He had another crash and lost a big amount of time to the other GC contenders. It’s far from ideal on that front," he says. "But the show must go on. Alberto's a fighter. He's not going to throw in the towel. It's a long way to Paris."

The deposed maillot jaune Mark Cavendish battled gamely to hold his overall lead, even if he knew he was fighting a losing battle. "It was super nice. Steve Cummings rode incredible on the front," he says. "We knew it was going to be hard for me to keep it but we thought why not give it a go. So that’s that. It’s not often I’m on the turbo after a stage so it shows I went a little bit deeper than I wanted to today. I’ve lost too much time to take back yellow but I’d like to wear green for a little bit. There’s a chance because the first week is a bit flatter, so it’s a while before Peter goes and gets all those 20-pointers in the intermediates in the mountains. But we’re happy to have worn the yellow.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) lost 11 seconds but will be glad to be a day closer to the mountains.

A reminder of the day's result:

General classification after stage 2:
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff Team 08:34:42
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:00:08
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 00:00:10
4 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 00:00:14
5 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
7 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff Team
9 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step

We can also confirm that all 198 riders made it to the finish today, including Michael Morkov and Sam Bennett, who were dropped in the final 50 kilometres, still feeling the effects of their heavy falls in the final kilometre yesterday. Morkov came home 197th on the day, 13:39 behind, while Bennett crossed the line 16:23 down on Sagan. They battle on to fight another day at the Tour de France.

Thanks for joining our live coverage this afternoon. A full report, results and pictures will follow here. We'll be back with more live coverage tomorrow from stage 3, but in the meantime, you will be able to read all the news and reaction from Cherbourg on Cyclingnews.

 

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