Tour de France: Sagan wins stage 2

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World champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) won his first Tour de France stage in three years when he outsprinted Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) on the uphill finish in Cherbourg. The victory and time bonus that came with it put the Tinkoff rider into the yellow jersey as race leader Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) lost ground on the final climb.

"I am very surprised I won, because I was thinking that there were still two guys in the front," Sagan said. "Then when I finished I didn't know I won and later realized the breakaway had been caught.

"It is the first time in my career to have the yellow jersey, and it is unbelievable. I'm already wearing a nice jersey [world champion], but this one is also very nice."

Set up by Tinkoff teammate Roman Kreuziger, Sagan found himself on the front 500 metres out and immediately decided it was too soon to make his move. Looking around to see what was happening behind him, he saw Alaphilippe coming through and manoeuvred cleverly onto the Frenchman's wheel.

The Etixx rider opened up his sprint 100 metres from the line, only to see Sagan surge past him at the very last to take victory, with Valverde close behind in third. GC favourites Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) also finished strongly and in the same time as Sagan, but other notables lost ground.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) yielded 48 seconds to his rivals. The Spaniard crashed onto his right shoulder for the second consecutive day and looked to be in some pain on the run-in. Richie Porte (BMC Racing) lost almost two minutes when he suffered a very untimely puncture six kilometres from the finish and then received a slow rear wheel change from the neutral service.

More on this story:

• Porte suffers 'disaster' at Tour de France
• Contador caught up in stage 2 crash

Sagan's failure to deliver a victory salute suggested the Slovak had given everything to overhaul Alaphilippe. But he soon explained that he had thought that he was sprinting for third place rather than first, believing that two men from the break of the day had finished ahead of him.

His reaction spoke volumes about the chaotic nature of the finale, as the breakaway, or more precisely one member of it, had gone close to pulling off a stunning coup. Four riders had been in that break, which formed just three kilometres into the stage – king of the mountains leader Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18) and his teammate Cesare Benedetti, together with Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo).

Their principal goal had been the contest for mountains jersey, which Stuyven ultimately won when he led over the third-category Côte de la Glacerie. By that point, though, the young Belgian had his focus very much on the yellow jersey rather than red polka dots.

Helped by the crash that saw Contador and several other riders hit the deck, the four escapees had pushed their lead out to six and a half minutes with 100km to the finish. Even when they were another 60km closer to Cherbourg, that advantage was still five minutes as peloton happily let Cavendish's Dimension Data team set the pace.

Although Benedetti dropped back from the lead group 25km from home, Voss, Breen and Stuyven kept going hard as the chase behind them continued to lack cohesion. With 10km left, the three-man break still led by 2-20.

The trio finally slowed on the Côte d'Octeville as they entered Cherbourg, and Stuyven decided this was his moment, blasting away from his two companions on the uncategorized climb. When he topped the uncategorized ascent with 7.5km to the finish, his lead was still above 90 seconds.

Stuyven looked strong as he flew through Cherbourg;s rain-dampened streets and reached the Côte de la Glacerie with a minute in hand and just 2,000 metres away from unexpected glory. It was here, though, that Tinkoff;s domestiques, notably Kreuziger, dashed Stuyven and Trek's hopes.

With fatigue taking a toll as he fought his way up the hill at La Glacerie, Stuyven crested it with only a narrow advantage. As he swept down to the foot of the final 700-metre drag up to the line, the peloton was bearing down on him. He;d barely started to climb, when Sagan charged past with a clutch of puncheurs on his wheel.

Denied at the very last, the courageous Stuyven did at least have the consolation of the polka-dot jersey that had been his original goal. Instead it was Sagan who claimed the day's main spoils, much to his own surprise.

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