Four riders in the lead
198 riders took the start of stage 2 in Saint-Lô. Polka dot jersey holder Paul Voss and Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18), Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) rode away from the gun. Stuyven passed first atop two of the three category 4 climbs of the day and thus prevented Voss from keeping the lead in the King of the Mountains competition. The leading quartet had a maximum advantage of 5.30 at km 20. Mark Cavendish's Dimension Data team maintained the deficit of the peloton around 4.30 until another crash involving Alberto Contador happened at km 60, after which the bunch slowed down. The time difference at km 69 was 6.50.
Stuyven caught with 500 metres to go
The leading quartet forged on. Their advantage was still five minutes with 40km to go. 25km before the end, Benedetti couldn't hold the pace anymore while top teams Astana, BMC and Tinkoff were strongly involved in the chase behind Voss, Breen and Stuyven. The leading trio enjoyed more than two minutes of an advantage with 10km to go. Stuyven rode away solo 8.5km before the line and was awarded the most aggressive rider price of the day. He also claimed the polka dot jersey as he passed the côte de la Glacerie alone at the front with 1.5km to go. The Belgian from Trek-Segafredo eventually got caught 500 metres before the line. Peter Sagan timed his sprint at perfection to fend off Tour of California winner Julian Alaphilippe who came second as he already did behind Alejandro Valverde at the Flèche wallonne those past two years. This time, the Spanish veteran was behind the up and coming Frenchman. Sagan last won a stage at the Tour de France in 2013. He's the first reigning world champion to win a stage since Cavendish in 2012.
