Oleg Tinkov celebrates Sagan's victory on video - Tour de France Shorts
Best stage result yet for Matthews, Gallopin misses his chance, Sam Bennett and Morkov ride through the pain, Stage 2 video highlights
Tinkoff team owner Oleg Tinkov watched the finale of the second stage at the 2016 Tour de France with the press in Cherbourg-Octeville, witnessing Peter Sagan's fifth career stage win that saw the world champion move into the yellow jersey for the first time in his career.
Cyclingnews was on hand to capture the emotional moment Sagan crossed the line as Tinkov started to wildly celebrate, waving his crutch in the air, jumping up and down and shouting 'woo,woo,woo' repeatedly. It is the first yellow jersey for Tinkoff during his time as a team manager and completed the grand tour set following the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana victories by Alberto Contador.
While Tinkov was celebrating the yellow jersey for Sagan, it wasn't all good news for the Tinkoff team as Contador crashed for a second straight down and conceded time to his overall rivals.
Tinkov took to social media after the conclusion of the podium ceremonires and Sagan has collected his yellow, and green points classification jerseys, writing "We @tinkoffbank and @tinkoff_team arte (sic) the Champions Today; yet all of our thoughts are on @acontadoroficial after his second crash. Best recovery Campione".
Watch the video of Oleg Tinkov celebrating Sagan's video below and click here for the stage 2 race report.
Best Tour de France stage result yet for Matthews
Michael Matthews was hoping for better on stage 2 of the Tour de France in Cherbourg-Octeville as the Orica-BikeExchange rider settled for fifth on the same time as winner Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) having earlier been caught in a crash with Alberto Contador. It was the best Tour de France result yet for the 25-year-old who moved up into 19th place overall.
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"Mid-stage I had a bit of crash with Contador and hurt my back a bit and was a little bit unsure if I was going to contest the final or not but when it's a stage that suits me this well, I have to suck it up and go for it," he told SBS Television post stage. "Two crashes in two days is a not very nice but if you're not too bad you have to keep pushing on. I was in good position in the final there. Maybe I would have liked to be two or three wheels in front to try and be Sagan's wheel but I was were I was and tried to move up for the sprint but I didn't quite have it for the final."
Matthews is confident there will be further opportunities for himself and Orica-BikeExchange across the following 19 stages, a statement echoed by sport director Matt White.
"It has been a solid start to this years Tour de France for us, but it is a long race and we have got work to do," said White of his squad which now leads the team standings and will wear yellow helmets in recognition for stage 3
Lotto-Soudal's Tony Gallopin disappointed with Cherbourg finish
Tony Gallopin had circled the finish of stage 2 as one that suited his characteristics with Lotto-Soudal's Frenchman eyeing off both the win and yellow jersey. Gallopin though came up short as he finished seventh after his teammates had worked to place him in position for the hilly finale.
"This was the first stage I had marked and I wanted to follow as long as possible on the steep finish," he said. "It was good that there were four escapees today, that way it was less nervous in the bunch, although at times the course was narrow. There were only few flat sections during the stage and at the end there wasn’t only the climb towards the finish but also an uphill section with eight kilometres to go. The teammates did a good job to get me to the finish in a good position."
With Trek-Segafredo's and new KOM leader Jasper Stuyven riding solo out in front of the peloton into the final climb, Gallopin explained once the Belgian was caught the stage played out with the anticipated protagonists but he didn't have the legs to challenge for the win.
"The peloton had to chase hard to catch Stuyven, it was a very strong performance of him," he said. "At the end Jürgen Roelandts protected me and helped me to stay at the front. In the first one and a half kilometres of the last climb I could follow the best riders of the group, then it was half a kilometre flat and then we came to the steepest part with a fight man against man. Peter Sagan turned out to be the strongest. I gave all I got and finished seventh. When I look at the top ten of the stage I see the names I had predicted."
Bora-Argon 18's Sam Bennett and Katusha's Michael Morkov make it through stage 2
Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) and Michael Morkov (Katusha) were two of the riders who suffered the most from the stage 1 crash into Utah Beach with both riders initially unsure of their future appearance in the 2016 edition of the race. The duo were able to finish the stage to Cherbourg with Bennett the Latern Rouge, and Morkov sitting second last on the same time as Benett's teammate Shane Archbold.
"I'm very happy that there is nothing broken. I could sleep well and therefore it was possible to take on the stage with a protective bandage at the fingers," said Bennett who was the last rider to finish stage 2.
Following the crash in which he broke his bike, Katusha sports director Jose Azevedo explained Morkov struggled during the stage today but with some easier days to come, is confident he can continue in the race.
"This was a very difficult day for Michael and he suffered a lot just to be able to finish the stage so we need to congratulate him for all that he did. We are happy to have a rider on the team with such strong character," Azevedo. "He cannot push with two legs because the injured leg is so swollen, so if he can get through tomorrow's critical stage, I believe he can start to recover after that. Tomorrow is a little flatter, but there are all of these small ups and downs so it makes it difficult."
There were more crashes for Katusha on stage 2 as duo Alberto Losada and Angel Vicioso both fell while Joaquim Rodriguez was incorrectly said to have also fallen.
Tour de France stage 2 highlights - Video
Peter Sagan's first Tour de France stage win since 2013 saw the world champion move into the yellow jersey for the first time. The Tinkoff rider also moved into the points classification lead with Etixx-Quick Step's Julian Alaphilippe leading the young rider classification, Jasper Stuyven the KOM classification and Orica-BikeExchange the teams classification.
For the highlights and wrap of stage 2 from Saint-Lo to Cherbourg-Octeville, watch the video below and Click Here to subscribe to the Cyclingnews video channel.