The second stage of the Tour de France held in Yorkshire proved to be another spectacular finish in which the GC contenders laid down their cards. In a day that was billed as a mini Liege-Bastogne-Liege with favourites such as Peter Sagan or Simon Gerrans expected to take the win, it was Vincenzo Nibali who made a brave attack with just under two kilometres remaining to hold off the bunch for a thrilling win.
It was estimated that 2 million people lined the roads on the opening stage and while these figures are often wildly optimistic, after seeing it with my own two eyes it’s certainly believable. Yorkshire has gotten behind the Tour de France in a way I’ve never seen before and with the announcement of plans for the ‘Tour of Yorkshire‘ beginning in 2015, this new race will certainly be welcomed by locals.
Check out the full stage report and results from stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France here.
Enjoy these spectacular photos from stage 2.
- Deja vu for Marcel Kittel, wearing yellow after the opening stage.
- Mark Cavendish did not start the stage due to his injuries sustained in the crash with Simon Gerrans in stage 1. “I think we kind of knew last night. Normally I bounce back, but this is the first time in my career I knew something was wrong,” the Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider said outside the team bus. “I held a bit of optimism that maybe it was just swelling and it go down during the night, but it is actually worse this morning.” “I spoke to Simon after the finish and asked him if he was all right. I called him when we were in the hotel,” he said, confirming that the apology had been made. “We were both going for Sagan’s wheel. I think you know the circumstances. I wanted it so bad that I tried to find a gap that wasn’t there. “I hope he is okay. Today is a stage for him, he is going well this year, he will do well in this Tour de France. He is a good guy and I really hope the race goes well for him.”
- World Champion Rui Costa pictured before the stage in his unmarked Bont shoes.
- The jersey leaders after the opening stage: Jens Voigt (mountains jersey), Bryan Coquard (wearing the points jersey, however Marcel Kittel lead the points classification before the stage), Marcel Kittel (yellow) and Peter Sagan (young rider classification’s white jersey).
- Luca Paolini pictured before the stage.
- The day’s main breakaway of seven riders was formed after 11km when Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Belisol) made it across to six other riders that had escaped from the gun: Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing), Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Perrig Quemener (Europcar), David De la Cruz (NetApp-Endura), Armindo Fonsesca (Bretagne-Seche Environment) and Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis).
- Marcel Kittle started the day in yellow and rode near the front guided by his Giant-Shimano teammates, but his strengths didn’t suit stage 2 and subsequently lost nearly 20 minutes in the overall classification.
- Pierre Rolland (Europcar) had a late dig in the final 15km but was eventually chased back by Orica-GreenEdge and Team Sky in the final 8km.
- Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) attacked with under 2km remaining and a lack of organisation in the chase group saw Nibali maintain his lead all the way to the line, winning the stage by two seconds ahead of the chase group.
- A jubilant Nibali pointed to the Italian flag on his Astana jersey as he crossed the line, only a week after winning the Italian national championships.
- The chase group was led home by Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep).
- Nibali’s first win at the Tour de France sees the Sicilian take the lead in the general classification.