2018 Tour de France Stage 2 Results & Recap
Stage 2 of the 2018 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Sagan wins at La Roche-sur-Yon\nBy Clara Beard
After a crash ridden finale, Peter Sagan sprinted out of a reduced bunch to his first victory at this year’s Tour de France in La Roche-sur-Yon. Sagan out-pipped Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama - FDJ), who was the first to wind up the sprint.
"I am really happy for today. I have to say a big thanks to all my teammates,” Sagan said. “We were in front all of the last 30k. In the end, expected something more easy but it was really tough, up and down, with climbs and descents. I said it was better to start [the sprint] later today. Demare started with Degenkolb and I overtook them but I was really lucky Colbrelli didn’t jump me."
Sagan’s win puts him into the yellow by six seconds ahead of Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors) who suffered an unfortunate crash in the final corner along with other sprint contenders. Colbrelli has moved up to third overall at 10 seconds.
When told he moved into the yellow jersey Sagan asked, “For one day? That’s pretty cool. I’m very happy for that. Very happy. My father is here and my friends from Žilina, my home city, it’s very nice.”
It was another hot flat stage at the Tour de France, which started in Mouilleron-Saint-Germain and traveled 182.5 kilometres to La Roche-sur-Yon. When the flag dropped, Direct Energie were the first protagonists, not surprising as the team’s home base is located in the Vendee region. Just three kilometres into the race, Sylvain Chavanel went clear, taking along Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Michael Gogl (Trek-Segafredo).
With the only KOM of the day fast approaching at 28 kilometres, the fight for the polka dots was on. Smith was victorious at côte de Pouzauges, giving him the distintiction of the first Kiwi to ever wear an official jersey at the Tour de France.
“It’s pretty special to be on the podium,” Smith said. “I’m the first Kiwi for the polka dot jersey. To represent the country and Wanty-Groupe Gobert this way, it’s very big. The plan this morning was to get the jersey or at least score a point, then sit up and wait for the bunch to save some energy for the coming days. For sure I’ll keep it tomorrow after the team time trial and the next stage I should keep it too. Whatever happens from there, we’ll see. We have a GC rider, Guillaume Martin, so the team time trial is pretty important for the team. The objective is to have everyone as fresh as possible. That’s the main reason why I came back to the bunch. It was a difficult decision but it was a team order and for sure I do agree with them.”
Smith and Gogl both returned to the peloton after the climb, leaving French veteran Chava out to time trial alone. He managed to stay out until 10 kilometres to go, when the teams finally decided to get serious about the final sprint.
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