World champion Peter Sagan took the yellow jersey when he won the second stage of the 2016 Tour de France today.
The Slovak, riding for Tinkoff, outdragged France’s Julian Alaphilippe and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde on an uphill finish in Cherbourg after 182km of racing.
Sagan won the stage in 4:20:51 to move into an eight second lead in the overall standings ahead of Alaphilippe and 10 seconds ahead of Valverde.
The pre-stage favourite said afterwards that he was surprised to learn that he had won the stage as he thought two riders had survived the day-long break and that he was sprinting for third.
“It was only afterwards when people told me I had won the stage that I realised I had done so,” said Sagan.
“I’m very surprised and very happy. The team today did a very good job today.
“Roman Kreuziger helped me a lot on the last climb. He was unbelievable, he pulled on the climb until 500m before the finish and then it was just my legs.”
His team-mate, Spain’s former champion Alberto Contador, suffered a second crash in two days and lost some ground to the overall contenders after struggling on the final ramp.
Australia’s Richie Port, racing for BMC, was another favourite that saw his chances for the overall Tour de France title diminishing after puncturing with less than five kilometres to go and losing valuable time.
Stage two results
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Team) 4:02:51
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quick-Step)
3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team)
4. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step)
5. Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange)
6. Wilco Kelderman (Team LottoNl-Jumbo)
7. Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal)
8. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
9. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo)
10. Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
Selected
31. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
89. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) 2’06”
94. Daryl Impey (Orica-BikeExchange)
General classification
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff Team) 8:34:42
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx – Quick-Step) 0:00:08
3. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) 0:00:10
4. Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Alpecin) 0:00:14
5. Christopher Froome (Team Sky)
6. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
7. Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team)
8. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff Team)
9. Simon Gerrans (Orica-BikeExchange)
10. Daniel Martin (Etixx – Quick-Step)
Selected
32. Louis Meintjes (Lampre – Merida)
86. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) 2’20”
98. Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-BikeExchange
Points classification
1. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) 87 points
2. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) 63
3. Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quick-Step) 50
King of the Mountains
1. Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) 4 points
2. Paul Voss (Bora-Argon) 2
3. Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) 1
Go to Tour de France for more news, results and information.
