Andre Greipel takes stage 2 Tour de France victory ahead of Peter Sagan. On the far left, non sprinter Fabian Cancellara lunges hard for the line to beat Mark Cavendish and take the yellow jersey ahead of Cavendish's Etixx - Quick Step team mate Tony Martin (Photo: Sirotti)
Dan Martin has suffered a setback in the battle for general classification at the Tour de France, losing out when the race split to pieces in the rain and crosswinds in the Netherlands.
The Cannondale-Garmin man finished in a large bunch 1:28 down on a group of 10 riders.
That leading 10 were part of a 24-man move that broke clear of the rest of the field when a day for the sprinters turned into an early Tour epic.
The leaders fractured slightly in the sprint to the line, with 15 seconds separating winner André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) and 24th placed Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx - Quick-Step).
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Of the big favourites, Chris Froome of Team Sky did best; coming 7th on the stage and finishing in the same time as the winner.
Dan Martin looking relaxed before the start today. But the sunshine would soon give way to rain and crosswinds (Photo: Sirotti)
Then all in a group just four seconds down on the leading 10 were: Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing), Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), Rigoberto Uran (Etixx - Quick-Step) and Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff-Saxo).
But stranded back in the very fragmented peloton 1:28 down were overall favourites Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale), Joaquim Rodriguez (Team Katusha), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr), defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and yellow jersey Rohan Dennis (BMC).
None of Martin’s team made the cut on what was a very bad day for them.
Of other Irish riders in the race; Sam Bennett (Bora Argon 18) was in the same large group as Martin while Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) was in a group further back, some 4:29 down.
The big split occurred just after the early escape was caught with 62km remaining on the 166-kilometre stage from Utrecht to Zeeland.
Nicolas Roche and Daniele Bennati have a chat on the front of their group after the field has been split to pieces in the crosswinds of Zeeland (Photo: Sirotti)
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Fabian Cancellara’s third place on the day – secured by beating Mark Cavendish of (Etixx - Quick-Step) into 4th place – was enough to give him the yellow jersey.
Neither Bennett nor Roche will be too concerned about the time they lost today.
Bennett is in this Tour to learn and to take his chances when he can.
But his break from racing for more than a month due to illness coming into the Tour meant he was perhaps never going to hit the ground running. And his team had Jan Barta in the early escape, securing their sponsors some useful publicity.
Roche is not in the race to ride for himself; Froome’s presence near the front of the leading group proving a job well done for his squad. And Geraint Thomas’s presence there too was a cherry on the cake.
Fabian Cancellara described himself as an "old lion" yesterday, adding he wasn't as strong as he used to be. But he's in yellow tonight, his 29th time pulling on the leader's jersey at the Tour de France.
But for Martin – a man who has long been spoken of as a contender for the Tour podium – today was a bad day at the office.
However, in the past early losses that have looked devastating have been pegged back in Grand Tours.
And Martin will have a chance of a stage win as early as tomorrow.
The 159.5-kilometre third leg from Anvers to Huy finishes on the hellishly steep Muur and it’s a section of road Martin knows very well having come close to winning Fleche Wallonne on it three times.
As things stand, he is now 57th overall, at 2:43. But with so many mountain stages to come those losses may prove to be a positive development in that he may be given leeway by the other men battling for the general classification to attack.
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