As the Tour de France hit the streets of Düsseldorf again for its first road stage, it was another day of bad weather as heavy rain once again soaked the riders. A crash in the final 30km shook up the peloton, making it harder to catch a committed and ambitious break, but the sprinters weren’t to be denied, a hectic finale seeing Peter Sagan finish just out of contention.
With the race yet to make its way into France, the second day of Le Tour spent most of its 203.5km distance in Germany, before heading into Belgium for the final 55km. The parcours wasn’t particularly challenging, although the climbers would have their first chance to take some points, with two easy fourth category climbs at the beginning and end of the stage. With a flat finish, the sprinters were going to do whatever they could to take the win – but with another day of torrential rain and the forecast predicting worse weather at the finish, a bunch sprint was far from certain.
In spite of the bad weather, fans lined the roads – some better prepared for the conditions than others – and they were rewarded with an early break, as a group of four escaped up the road. This being the first breakaway of the 2017 Tour de France, the peloton was keeping its eye on the escapees, not allowing their advantage to grow too much, with the sprint teams also working to control the pace. BORA-hansgrohe were working to keep the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, safe, while not allowing the gap to exceed 3:30.
A crash with 30km to go shook up the peloton. The speeds having risen gradually after crossing into Belgium, the nervousness in the bunch finally manifested itself in a crash, leaving several riders on the ground. The fast pace had reduced the gap to less than a minute, but it was clear there was ambition in the break – the bright weather in the final 10km spurring on the escapees, managing to hold twenty seconds with just 3km to go. Everyone knows never to discount the sprinters though, and with the catch being made with just 1km to go, it was a mad dash to the finish, with no-one able to make full use of their sprint trains. Finding himself at the front too early, Peter became boxed in when he started his sprint and was unable to find a gap, leaving him to finish in tenth spot.
From the finish, Peter was thankful to his teammates for bringing him safely to the finish, but was disappointed with how the sprint unfolded. “Today’s second stage of the Tour went well for the team. The guys worked really hard under difficult conditions to bring me safely to the front for the final sprint. Unfortunately I started too early and then got closed by Colbrelli. There isn’t much more to say – my sprint wasn’t very good. I feel in good form though, and we’ll try again tomorrow.”
Rüdiger Selig experienced the crash first hand, hitting the floor and struggling to recover, but the German sprinter loved riding on home territory today. “I am not satisfied today, because I know I can do better. However, I went down in the crash and afterwards my legs felt a little blocked. The crowds in Germany were awesome – I have never seen so many people on the road and that made me really proud today.”
Sports Director, Patxi Vila, saw how hard the racing was, with the weather taking its toll. “It was a hard day because of the weather. We were lucky today – our boys did a great job to avoid all the crashes. It’s always important to stay together as a team. In the end, Peter was at the front too early, but once you are there you can only give it a go.”
Tomorrow’s profile has a distinctly different feel to it from today’s fairly flat stage. Five climbs dot the stage, with three fourth category climbs and two third category, as the race moves from Belgium to Luxembourg before finally finishing the day in France. The undulating parcours will drain riders, while the uphill finale will make contesting the win difficult. This might be a day for the breakaway, a late attack or for a classics rider to take the win.
