Greipel wins Tour de France Stage 2

Zeeland - Andre Greipel won the second stage of the Tour de France on Sunday as reigning champion Vincenzo Nibali and fellow favourite Nairo Quintana lost time.

Greipel edged out Peter Sagan by a fraction of a wheel length at the end of the 166km stage from Utrecht to Zeeland in the Netherlands.

Fabian Cancellara took third, and four bonus seconds, inches ahead of Mark Cavendish to snare the yellow jersey off Australia's Rohan Dennis.

"I'm really happy because that's 29 days now in this jersey, it's nice," said Cancellara, who's won eight Tour stages in his career.

"The high numbers (many days in yellow) are special but also being back in the jersey after 11 years (racing the Tour). I said before the start this is my last Tour.

"Reaching yellow, everything to come now is a bonus."

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 six seconds.

"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."

But it was crashes and crosswinds in driving rain that made the real difference as Chris Froome, the 2013 champion, and twice winner Alberto Contador put significant time into Nibali and Quintana.

After a four-man breakaway of Czech Jan Barta, Stef Clement of the Netherlands and Frenchmen Perrig Quemeneur and Armindo Fonseca was reeled in within the first 100km, the next 10km saw the main drama take place.

Already 60km into the race the crosswinds created the first split in the peloton, with former world champion Rui Costa of Portugal and former Vuelta a Espana winner Alejandro Valverde caught out.

They got back up to the front group but crashes, a searing pace and the inclement weather from 60km to 50km to go saw first Quintana and then Nibali also left behind.

"I was held up by Alan Hansen's crash. I was a hair's breath away from the lead group but we were disorganised and we didn't manage to close the gap immediately," moaned Nibali.

"That's cycling, you have to accept the bad days. There's still a long way to go in the Tour."

Quintana's group quickly lost a minute while Nibali was caught in no-man's land in a small group that, while just 20 seconds off the front peloton, didn't have enough manpower to close the gap.

At the front Etixx-Quick Step were driving the peloton in the hope of setting up Mark Cavendish for a 26th Tour stage win.

With around 35km left and clearing skies, Nibali's group was caught by Quintana's and then their Astana and Movistar teams, along with some help from French hope Thibaut Pinot's FDJ teammates, led the chase.

Dennis was caught in this group and with his BMC team leader Tejay Van Garderen in the lead bunch, he could count on no help to close the gap.

But up front there were riders pushing the pace with the stage win in mind while Froome and Contador's teammates helped out from time to time to ensure they profited most from the situation.

Italian Nibali's nightmare day continued as he punctured 25km from home but the 30-year-old quickly fought his way back up to the chase group, with a little help from the slipstream of the team cars.

It all left Froome in 10th overall, 48 seconds behind Cancellara and 12 seconds ahead of Contador in 14th.

Nibali, who started the day seven seconds up on Froome, is now 33rd 1:21 behind with 44th placed Quintana another 18 seconds further adrift.

Pinot and Jean-Christophe Peraud, the other two podium finishers from last year, also lost time, along with another overall contender Romain Bardet.

Monday's third stage takes the peloton 157km from Antwerp in Belgium to the brutal uphill finish at the Mur de Huy, where a few seconds could be gained.

Results from the 2nd stage of the Tour de France, a 166km ride from Utrecht to Zeeland on Sunday:

1. Andre Greipel (GER/LOT) 3h29min 03sec (average: 47.6 km/h)
2. Peter Sagan (SVK/TIN) at 0:00.
3. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/TRE) 0:00.
4. Mark Cavendish (GBR/ETI) 0:00.
5. Daniel Oss (ITA/BMC) 0:00.
6. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/BMC) 0:00.
7. Chris Froome (GBR/SKY) 0:00.
8. Tom Dumoulin (NED/GIA) 0:00.
9. Tony Martin (GER/ETI) 0:00.
10. Warren Barguil (FRA/GIA) 0:00.
11. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/BMC) 0:04.
12. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 0:04.
13. Alberto Contador (ESP/TIN) 0:04.
14. Rigoberto Uran (COL/ETI) 0:04.
15. Tony Gallopin (FRA/LOT) 0:04.
16. Mark Renshaw (AUS/ETI) 0:04.
17. Marcel Sieberg (GER/LOT) 0:04.
18. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/TIN) 0:04.
19. Michael Schar (SUI/BMC) 0:08.
20. Michael Rogers (AUS/TIN) 0:08.
21. Manuel Quinziato (ITA/BMC) 0:11.
22. Zdenek Stybar (CZE/ETI) 0:11.
23. Ian Stannard (GBR/SKY) 0:11.
24. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL/ETI) 0:15.
25. Tyler Farrar (USA/MTN) 1:28.
26. Geoffrey Soupe (FRA/COF) 1:28.
27. Jack Bauer (NZL/CAN) 1:28.
28. Robert Gesink (NED/LNL) 1:28.
29. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/LAM) 1:28.
30. Christophe Laporte (FRA/COF) 1:28.
31. Rui Costa (POR/LAM) 1:28.
32. Ramon Sinkeldam (NED/GIA) 1:28.
33. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 1:28.
34. Serge Pauwels (BEL/MTN) 1:28.
35. Greg Henderson (NZL/LOT) 1:28.
36. Mathias Frank (SUI/IAM) 1:28.
37. Matthieu Ladagnous (FRA/FDJ) 1:28.
38. Roy Curvers (NED/GIA) 1:28.
39. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 1:28.
40. Steve Morabito (SUI/FDJ) 1:28.
41. Adriano Malori (ITA/MOV) 1:28.
42. Daniel Martin (IRL/CAN) 1:28.
43. Arnaud Demare (FRA/FDJ) 1:28.
44. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 1:28.
45. Romain Bardet (FRA/ALM) 1:28.
46. Michal Golas (POL/ETI) 1:28.
47. Thibaut Pinot (FRA/FDJ) 1:28.
48. Jan Bakelants (BEL/ALM) 1:28.
49. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/AST) 1:28.
50. Alejandro Valverde (ESP/MOV) 1:28.
51. Matthias Brandle (AUT/IAM) 1:28.
52. Jan Barta (CZE/BOA) 1:28.
53. Julien Simon (FRA/COF) 1:28.
54. Alexander Kristoff (NOR/KAT) 1:28.
55. Matteo Trentin (ITA/ETI) 1:28.
56. Nairo Quintana (COL/MOV) 1:28.
57. Leopold Konig (CZE/SKY) 1:28.
58. Sep Vanmarcke (BEL/LNL) 1:28.
59. Zakkari Dempster (AUS/BOA) 1:28.
60. Paul Voss (GER/BOA) 1:28.
61. Arnaud Gerard (FRA/BSE) 1:28.
62. Florian Vachon (FRA/BSE) 1:28.
63. Kristjan Koren (SLO/CAN) 1:28.
64. Dominik Nerz (GER/BOA) 1:28.
65. Damiano Caruso (ITA/BMC) 1:28.
66. Sam Bennett (IRL/BOA) 1:28.
67. Richie Porte (AUS/SKY) 1:28.
68. John Degenkolb (GER/GIA) 1:28.
69. Simon Gerrans (AUS/ORI) 1:28.
70. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 1:28.
71. Andreas Schillinger (GER/BOA) 1:28.
72. Bauke Mollema (NED/TRE) 1:28.
73. Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/MTN) 1:28.
74. Lars Ytting Bak (DEN/LOT) 1:28.
75. Nelson Oliveira (POR/LAM) 1:28.
76. Alexis Vuillermoz (FRA/ALM) 1:28.
77. Andrew Talansky (USA/CAN) 1:28.
78. Rein Taaramae (EST/AST) 1:28.
79. Georg Preidler (AUT/GIA) 1:28.
80. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/KAT) 1:28.
81. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/MOV) 1:28.
82. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 1:28.
83. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/AST) 1:28.
84. Albert Timmer (NED/GIA) 1:28.
85. Matteo Bono (ITA/LAM) 1:28.
86. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/BMC) 1:28.
87. Michele Scarponi (ITA/AST) 1:28.
88. Rohan Dennis (AUS/BMC) 1:28.
89. Alex Dowsett (GBR/MOV) 1:28.
90. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 3:19.
91. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/CAN) 3:19.
92. Daniele Bennati (ITA/TIN) 4:29.
93. Nicolas Roche (IRL/SKY) 4:29.
94. Luke Rowe (GBR/SKY) 4:29.
95. Damien Gaudin (FRA/ALM) 4:29.
96. Danilo Wyss (SUI/BMC) 4:29.
97. Tim Wellens (BEL/LOT) 4:29.
98. Paul Martens (GER/LNL) 5:04.
99. Angelo Tulik (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
100. Yohann Gene (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
101. Anthony Delaplace (FRA/BSE) 5:04.
102. Fredric Brun (FRA/BSE) 5:04.
103. Thomas De Gendt (BEL/LOT) 5:04.
104. Wilco Kelderman (NED/LNL) 5:04.
105. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/TRE) 5:04.
106. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
107. Lieuwe Westra (NED/AST) 5:04.
108. Steven Kruijswijk (NED/LNL) 5:04.
109. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/TIN) 5:04.
110. Jose Herrada (ESP/MOV) 5:04.
111. Michael Andersen (DEN/TIN) 5:04.
112. Stef Clement (NED/IAM) 5:04.
113. Laurens ten Dam (NED/LNL) 5:04.
114. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/IAM) 5:04.
115. Ivan Basso (ITA/TIN) 5:04.
116. Marcel Wyss (SUI/IAM) 5:04.
117. Daryl Impey (RSA/ORI) 5:04.
118. Luke Durbridge (AUS/ORI) 5:04.
119. Luis Angel Mate (ESP/COF) 5:04.
120. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA/COF) 5:04.
121. Kenneth Vanbilsen (BEL/COF) 5:04.
122. Romain Sicard (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
123. Nathan Haas (AUS/CAN) 5:04.
124. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA/MTN) 5:04.
125. Daniel Navarro (ESP/COF) 5:04.
126. Koen de Kort (NED/GIA) 5:04.
127. Emanuel Buchmann (GER/BOA) 5:04.
128. Bryan Naulleau (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
129. Simon Geschke (GER/GIA) 5:04.
130. Julien Vermote (BEL/ETI) 5:04.
131. Armindo Fonseca (FRA/BSE) 5:04.
132. Tiago Machado (POR/KAT) 5:04.
133. Luca Paolini (ITA/KAT) 5:04.
134. Rafael Valls (ESP/LAM) 5:04.
135. Tanel Kangert (EST/AST) 5:04.
136. Kristijan Durasek (CRO/LAM) 5:04.
137. Ben Gastauer (LUX/ALM) 5:04.
138. Martin Elmiger (SUI/IAM) 5:04.
139. Gregory Rast (SUI/TRE) 5:04.
140. Mickal Cherel (FRA/ALM) 5:04.
141. Ruben Plaza (ESP/LAM) 5:04.
142. Bob Jungels (LUX/TRE) 5:04.
143. Pierrick Fedrigo (FRA/BSE) 5:04.
144. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
145. Adam Yates (ENG/ORI) 5:04.
146. Eduardo Sepulveda (ARG/BSE) 5:04.
147. Bryan Coquard (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
148. Benot Vaugrenard (FRA/FDJ) 5:04.
149. Jos van Emden (NED/LNL) 5:04.
150. Peter Kennaugh (GBR/SKY) 5:04.
151. Lars Boom (NED/AST) 5:04.
152. Alberto Losada (ESP/KAT) 5:04.
153. Reto Hollenstein (SUI/IAM) 5:04.
154. Florian Senechal (FRA/COF) 5:04.
155. Winner Anacona (COL/MOV) 5:04.
156. Davide Cimolai (ITA/LAM) 5:04.
157. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 5:04.
158. Dmitriy Gruzdev (KAZ/AST) 5:04.
159. Bram Tankink (NED/LNL) 5:04.
160. Alexandre Geniez (FRA/FDJ) 5:04.
161. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP/MOV) 5:04.
162. Tom Leezer (NED/LNL) 5:04.
163. Wout Poels (NED/SKY) 5:04.
164. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 5:04.
165. Marco Haller (AUT/KAT) 5:04.
166. William Bonnet (FRA/FDJ) 5:04.
167. Rafal Majka (POL/TIN) 5:04.
168. Svein Tuft (CAN/ORI) 5:04.
169. Johan Van Summeren (BEL/ALM) 5:04.
170. Daniel Teklehaimanot (ERI/MTN) 5:04.
171. Bartosz Huzarski (POL/BOA) 5:04.
172. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/KAT) 5:04.
173. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/EUC) 5:04.
174. Julian Arredondo (COL/TRE) 5:04.
175. Tylan van Baarle (NED/CAN) 5:04.
176. Jos Mendes (POR/BOA) 5:04.
177. Pieter Weening (NED/ORI) 5:04.
178. Michael Albasini (SUI/ORI) 5:04.
179. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/CAN) 5:04.
180. Michael Matthews (AUS/ORI) 5:04.
181. Simon Yates (GBR/ORI) 5:04.
182. Sebastian Langeveld (NED/CAN) 5:04.
183. Jos Serpa Perez (COL/LAM) 5:04.
184. Pierre-Luc Perichon (FRA/BSE) 5:04.
185. Jarlinson Pantano (COL/IAM) 5:04.
186. Jens Debusschere (BEL/LOT) 5:04.
187. Stephen Cummings (GBR/MTN) 5:04.
188. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/MTN) 5:04.
189. Merhawi Kudus (ERI/MTN) 5:04.
190. Jerome Coppel (FRA/IAM) 5:04.
191. Louis Meintjies (RSA/MTN) 5:04.
192. Markel Irizar (ESP/TRE) 11:06.
193. Stijn Devolder (BEL/TRE) 11:06.
194. Laurent Didier (LUX/TRE) 11:06.
195. Brice Feillu (FRA/BSE) 11:06.
196. Nicolas Edet (FRA/COF) 11:06.
197. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 11:06.
198. Adam Hansen (AUS/LOT) 11:06.