Tour de France: Kittel sprints to stage 2 victory

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Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) claimed his 10th career Tour de France victory on Sunday, powering his way to first over the finish line in Liège with a late surge from behind. Arnaud Démare (FDJ) was second and André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) third, with Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) an impressive fourth after his recent illness.

Team Sky's Geraint Thomas finished safely in the peloton to retain the race leader's yellow jersey but a ten-second stage winner's time bonus moved Kittel to third overall at six seconds and so within reach of yellow.

Bora-Hansgrohe opened the sprint, with Peter Sagan in the wind too early, and the world champion faded back to finish 10th. Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) also tried to lead from the front but only offered Kittel a perfect lead out. Kittel became the first rider to win a Tour de France sprint on a bike equipped with disc-brakes.

"I'm super-relieved became in reality, I honestly don’t care how many stages I win, it’s about moments, and if have to finish with 10 wins or whatever amount, still be very proud," Kittel said.

"I felt I had the right moment and went for it, full gas," he said before being asked about his chances of taking the yellow jersey now he is only six seconds down on Thomas thanks to the 10-second stage winner's time bonus.

The stage was marked by a long breakaway that lasted over 200 kilometres in often heavy rain.

Read more on this article

• Another first: Kittel wins Tour de France stage on disc brakes
• Bardet: It could have been worse, that's for sure
• Geraint Thomas remains in Tour de France yellow but team focussed on Chris Froome
• Phinney: It felt like a dream out there
• Chris Froome survives Tour de France crash scare
• Cavendish: I have a better chance of winning here than if I'm sat at home

Taylor Phinney (Cannondale-Drapac), Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie), Laurent Pichon (Fortuneo-Oscaro) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Gobert) never had a large lead but at one point it looked as if the last two survivors of the move, Phinney and Offredo, might stay away to the finish. They were caught with one kilometre left to race. Phinney, making his Tour de France debut, took maximum points at the two small climbs of the day to move into the climber's polka dot jersey.

With about 30 kilometres left to race there was a large crash in the peloton, with much of Team Sky hitting the pavement, including Chris Froome. Other riders, including Richie Porte (BMC), and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) also crashed. Froome and Bardet had to chase back, with Froome also dropping back again for a bike change. His battered teammates brought him back up both times so he could finish in the main peloton and so not lose any time.

How it unfolded

On the heels of a rainy opening time trial in Dusseldorf, rain was once again the theme of the day on Sunday as it was wet most of the long stage 2.

The peloton was two riders down at the start as both Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) suffered serious injuries in crashes on stage 1. Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott), who hurt his ankle during the time trial, took to the start of stage 2 but subsequently had to abandon.

After a 10-minute ride through Düsseldorf, the peloton stopped for a small ceremony complete with national anthems and ribbon cutting. An addition 10-15 minutes brought them to the sharp start.

When the flag finally dropped Boudat, Pichon, Offredo and Phinney got away almost immediately.

Phinney seemed to have rediscovered his best form and appears to be completely recovered from his accident in the 2014 US road championships. The first climb of this year’s Tour de France came only 6.5 kilometres after the start, and Phinney made sure to grab the maximum points at the cat. 4 Côte de Grafenberg.

The foursome stayed away, but they were kept on a short line by the sprinters' teams and their maximum gap never went much beyond 3:30. The rain started as the riders headed southwest out of Düsseldorf. The first sprint came in Mönchengladbach, and once again Phinney jumped to take the points, but Boudat came around to claim the honours.

Just over two minutes back, the sprinters’ teams formed up to bring their stars into position, as points were on offer to the first 15 across the line. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won the battle, followed by Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Michael Matthews (Sunweb).

From there, the stage moved down to Jülich, home of SRM, and through Aachen, before moving into Belgium. The rain continued and gap bobbled between one and three minutes.

The mass crash hit the field at traffic islands on a curve. A dozen or so riders went down, including favourites Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale). A number of Katusha and Cofidis riders were also involved.

A Team Sky-led chase group grew larger and larger and chased back up to the peloton with determination. In the peloton, there was much looking around as to who was where. With about 24 kilometres to go, the chasers caught up with the field again and once again the sprinters’ teams were gathering at the front. Froome had to drop back for a bike change, but was again brought up by his teammates.

Perhaps thanks to the crash, the four escapees were able to tackle the day's final fourth-category climb alone. It was a close call, but Phinney once again took the points and would pull on the polka-dot jersey in Liège.

That left Phinney in the lead and he decided to take off on his own, with some 20 km to go. Offredo joined him two kilometres later to try and surprise the peloton. However the sprinters weren't about to let their first chance slip away. Lotto Soudal led the chase, with Bora-Hansgrohe right behind, and Quick Step Floors train moving in for a turn.

The gap dropped rapidly over the final five kilometres, and with a kilometre and a half to go, the field had the leading duo in sight. The catch was made with just over one kilometre left. It was time for a high-speed, hectic sprint.

Bora-Hansgrohe led the way with Sagan moving toward the front for the sprint but he was in the wind a few hundred metres before the line and so did not immediately take up his sprint.

Colbrelli produced a strong surge and then André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) hit the front but Kittel powered his way forward on their right. He came off Colbrelli's wheel at the right moment and used his huge strength to pull away and cross the line with enough of a gap to have time to raise his arms in celebration. He then burst into tears of joy as he sat on the road and realised what he had achieved.

Top 5
1. @marcelkittel
2. @ArnaudDemare
3. @AndreGreipel
4. @MarkCavendish
5. @GroenewegenD pic.twitter.com/AXsuQNVPiv

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