In ferocious winds and thunderous rain, Team Sky’s Chris Froome and Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador managed to use the conditions to their advantage on the second stage of the Tour de France. That gave them the early leg up on main rivals Vincenzo Nibali and Nairo Quintana.
While it is too soon for anyone to gain a decisive advantage in the race, British rider Froome and Spaniard Contador are certainly on the front foot in what is widely touted as a four-way Tour battle.
They are more than a minute ahead of defending champion Nibali of Astana and Movistar’s Quintana after both rivals fell behind when the peloton split up in the heavy winds.
Photo: EPA
“We knew that in stages like today there might be even more differences made than in the mountains,” said Contador, who is bidding for a third Tour title. “I was speaking to Froome and [Tejay] van Garderen and I told them that these are the kind of opportunities you have to take.”
They certainly did.
Froome crossed the line in seventh place, 1 minute, 28 seconds ahead of Nibali and Quintana, while Contador gained 1:24 on those two after placing 13th.
Photo: EPA
The action-packed trek swept along the spectacular Dutch coastline, with Andre Greipel winning a sprint to clinch a seventh Tour stage victory.
The German rider trumped an all-star cast featuring three-time defending Tour sprint champion Peter Sagan, four-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara and 25-time Tour stage winner Mark Cavendish.
The 34-year-old Cancellara’s smile beamed as brightly as the sunshine that finally pierced through the clouds late in the afternoon as he pulled on the race leader’s maillot jaune — 11 years after wearing it for the first time — but the day also belonged to Froome, the 2013 Tour winner who crashed out early in last year’s race, and to Contador.
Photo: Reuters
Froome, 10th overall, was 1:21 ahead of Nibali and leading Quintana by 1:39 in the general classification.
With the exception of BMC Racing Team’s Van Garderen — the American rider was four seconds ahead of Froome in eighth overall — none of the others in the top 10 are a threat for the Tour victory.
“This is a huge advantage for us to be sitting in this position after one flat day out on the road,” Froome said.
Photo: EPA
Contador, who was 12 seconds behind Froome in 14th spot, moved 1:09 ahead of Nibali and 1:27 clear of Quintana.
“We joined our forces with Astana and kept the gap closer than it could have been,” Quintana said.
The stage finish in the heart of the Zeeland Delta offered a spectacular backdrop.
Photo: EPA
Riders rode over a pier with waves crashing beneath them and then snaked through treacherously narrow streets packed with crowds. Nearing the line, Etixx-Quick Step’s Cavendish moved first, but Lotto-Soudal’s Greipel timed his riposte perfectly.
Swiss veteran Cancellara of Trek Factory Racing, who is riding in his final Tour, took the race leader’s jersey from overnight leader Rohan Dennis after finishing third and picking up a time bonus.
The 166km trek started out from the Dutch city of Utrecht, where Dennis had won Saturday’s individual time trial.
As the weather conditions worsened, crashes became almost inevitable.
“It turned out to be hectic — chaos, wind, rain,” Cancellara said.
Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Wilco Kelderman, Geraint Thomas — Froome’s teammate — and Lotto-Soudal’s Thomas de Gendt all fell following an intermediate sprint through the Dutch city of Rotterdam. They got back on their bikes to continue.
Later, Australian rider Adam Hansen, also of Lotto-Soudal, fell, then got back on his bike clutching his right shoulder and with his legs caked in dirt.
Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis was one of several involved in a spill at the back of the front group which Nibali narrowly avoided. It was the Italian rider’s only bit of luck.
With the crosswinds causing havoc, the peloton was split apart with 50km to go, as 26 riders — including Froome and Contador — peeled away into a front group, while Nibali was dropped.
“One second Nibali was next to me and the next I couldn’t believe it when I heard he was distanced,” Froome said. “I’m very thankful to my teammates for keeping me in front all day.”
Quintana was huddled into a third group even further behind, but the Colombian managed to catch up with Nibali.
With 25km remaining, Nibali pulled up on the side of the road with a puncture to his front tire and, with no teammates around him, had to catch up to the maillot jaune group by riding several kilometers on his own.
The Tour was due to swing into nearby Belgium yesterday for stage three, a 159.5km route from Anvers to Huy.
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