Stage 2 of the Tour de France: A Turbulent Ride

If something characterized the past Giro, it was that every day something outstanding happened, and when it didn't, Alberto Contador made it happen. This made the race have a permanent excitement, without distinction between flat and mountain stages. The present Tour is heading down the same path. The second stage, a turbulent ride through the dikes of Holland, left us with differences that would have turned any queen stage into an epic one. The wind blew (Contador huffed) and the consequence is that Nibali and Quintana lost about a minute and a half, time they will want to recover starting today; nothing hurts as much as wounded pride.

The current panorama is as formidable as it is astonishing. Froome is the leader in the favorites' general classification, with a twelve-second lead over Contador, 1:21 ahead of Nibali, and 1:39 in relation to Quintana. The situation of the latter two is critical: the Italian needs to gain time before the mountains, and the Colombian cannot lose a single second more.

With that being said, a varied artillery fire is expected today. The explosive difficulty posed by the Muro de Huy (1.3 km at 9%) is added to a large number of riders in search of a triumph or revenge. We could say that there will be jostling to get into position, but that wouldn't be true: there will be shoves, punches, and insults in Esperanto. A magnificent way to entertain the wait for the cobblestones.

Until hostilities resume, we will enjoy what happened yesterday. In 166 kilometers, the riders experienced the changing summer of Northern Europe: intermittent rain, Tarifa winds, and a ray of sunshine here and there. In such conditions, echelons were not long in coming. One hundred kilometers from the finish line, Contador began shouting at his teammates from the front positions. It doesn't matter if he said "avanti," "go ahead," "arread," or "espartanos." What is important is that they understood him. Purito and Valverde were the most relevant casualties.

Although calm returned to the peloton, not everyone took note. In the next shake-up, Nairo Quintana was dropped and in a subsequent one, Nibali fell into the trap. Between Tinkoff and Lotto Soudal, they had blown up the stage: twenty-five ahead and the world behind, including the French army: Pinot, Péraud, and Bardet. Only Barguil, perhaps the wildest talent of the army, escaped the blaze.

Ahead, Contador had four bodyguards (Sagan, Kreuziger, Rogers, and Bennati) and Froome had two (Thomas and Stannard). Van Garderen, the perpetual promise, traveled with three protectors, and Uran with five, some with as many or more merits than him (Cavendish, Tony Martin, Kwiatkowski...). The summary is that both Sky and BMC were stingy with the relays, which is why Tinkoff held back and the advantage did not exceed two minutes.

Dam. Greipel won the sprint against Sagan, who continues with his curse from the past year (four second places). Cancellara took a bonus to become the leader, and Etixx was left with a bewildered look: neither Martin wore yellow nor did Cavendish win his 26th stage, which we celebrate. Cav is three victories away from Hinault and six away from Merckx. Long live the dikes of Holland.