After a 213.5km stage and a dramatic sprint finish, the Tinkoff riders stayed out of trouble with Rafal Majka first home in 18th place, ahead of Alberto Contador who got caught behind a split losing a handful of seconds.
After the cold and wintery conditions of stage 1, blue skies at the start line in Contres for stage 2 were a welcome sight for riders, but the cold weather persisted over the race’s longest day. At 213.5km, the course took in only one categorised climb after 164km, and in spite of the best efforts of a breakaway that stayed out much of the stage, the expected sprint took place, won in dramatic fashion by the race leader, Michael Matthews.
“Today’s stage was pretty straight forward as predicted, with a usual break of four guys and a steady tempo set behind.” commented Sport Director, Sean Yates, at the finish.
Throughout the stage, the Tinkoff riders were keeping their team leader safe and helping conserve energy in preparation for the mountain stages. As the pace crept up, the sprint trains formed and a dramatic sprint unfolded ahead, Alberto crossed the line seconds after the sprinters, ready for tomorrow’s move into the mountains.
“Things did get a bit tricky at the end after a long day, and in the final there was a split and Alberto Contador lost a few seconds in the hectic, slightly uphill sprint. Hopefully this won’t come back to haunt us in Nice. We stayed out of trouble and did everything right all day long, but this shows you that anything can happen in these finishes here.”
With today’s stage out of the way, Yates turned his attention to tomorrow’s route, which takes in the first mountains of the race. “Tomorrow is an uphill summit finish, with a 3km climb which we do twice. The route to that point is up and down and the weather isn’t looking great so it could be a tough day out. Tomorrow will be the first opportunity for Alberto and the team to go for the victory and to move up the GC. The plan stays the same, to protect Alberto and his GC hopes, supported by the team including Rafal Majka who’s going well here.”
