ZEELAND (Netherlands): German rider Andre Greipel won a rain-drenched second stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Sunday, while defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and Tour contender Nairo Quintana lost valuable time after dropping behind the front group.

Crosswinds and crashes caused several splits as the peloton made its way on a 166-kilometre ride from Utrecht and as the riders approached the finish, Briton Mark Cavendish attacked first but Greipel timed his riposte perfectly to overtake him near the line for his seventh Tour stage win.

Cavendish was caught by Slovakian Peter Sagan and Swiss veteran Fabian Cancellara, who took the race leader’s yellow jersey from overnight leader Rohan Dennis. The 34-year-old Cancellara, who first wore the Tour yellow jersey in 2004, is riding in his last Tour.

Tony Martin, who started the day in second, one place and one second ahead of Cancellara, could only finish ninth and now trails the Swiss Trek rider by three seconds, with Tom Dumoulin third overall at 6sec.

“I think Mark Renshaw [Cavendish’s lead-out man] went a bit too early so Cavendish too was forced to launch his sprint early,” said Greipel, who won his 10th Tour stage and got the green points jersey.

“But he also won many stages this way because he can hold his speed for a long time. I was able to stay on his wheel and time the sprint the right way. It’s the first time I’m wearing the green jersey in the Tour de France and I will enjoy it.”

While it was a bad day for Nibali, Quintana and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot — an outsider for the Tour win — things went well for Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour champion, and two-time winner Alberto Contador.

They managed to get in the front group along with Greipel, Cavendish and the other sprinters. Froome finished seventh, and gained four seconds on Contador, who crossed the line in 13th. Nibali, Quintana and Frenchman Thibaut Pinot all rolled in 1 minute, 28 seconds behind.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2015

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