Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) took the stage and the yellow jersey on day two of the Tour de France but fourth across the line was Ireland's Dan Martin who moves up to 10th overall on general classification.
By Brian Canty
Dan Martin is up to 10th on general classification at the Tour de France after finishing a superb 4th on today’s second stage of the race.
The Irishman was beaten in the gallop to the line by stage winner and reigning world champion Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), runner-up and teammate Julian Alaphilippe as well as Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde.
Martin was around a bike length further back on a day that saw some of the top general classification contenders have their hopes of winning the race take a severe dent.
Chief among those to concede significant time were Richie Porte (BMC Racing Team) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff).
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The latter came into the stage sporting heavy bandaging on his shoulder following a heavy fall on yesterday’s opening stage and he hit the deck again today around 60 kilometres in.
He would cross the line 48 seconds behind stage winner and new race leader Sagan and is now 1:02 down overall on the Slovak.
Porte had a puncture with 4.5km to go and he never regained contact with the main field as they were racing absolutely flat-out at that point.
Incidentally, it had been his team who were doing much of the driving when he punctured and that is cruel luck on him.
He lost 1:45 and is now 81st overall, 1:59 down.
For Martin, today was all about going for the stage or failing that, losing no major time to his rivals.
And though he didn’t take victory, he achieved the second objective.
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He did so with the help of his Etixx-QuickStep teammates who shepherded him towards the front of the race in the final 30 kilometres as the pace was really ramping up.
Martin stayed right towards the head of affairs in the final and looked really good as the road began to rise up to the finish in Cherbourg.
As he has done so often in the past he sneaked his way right into contention before launching his sprint.
But on this occasion it wasn’t quite good enough for him to win – but was good enough to see him make the top 10 overall.
He is now just 14 seconds down on Sagan, who will most likely lose the jersey in the coming days.
Sam Bennett (Bora Argon 18) had a savage day and he was last over the line in 198th after losing over 16 minutes.
But given the injuries he sustained in yesterday’s crash, today was all about survival, which he managed to do.
Tomorrow and Tuesday are two brutally long days; 223 and 237 kilometres respectively but they are relatively flat.
Time will tell how he recovers from his injuries and what kind of condition he can be in.
Stage two: Saint-Lô to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (183km)
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff 04:02:51
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx-QuickStep
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar
4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx-QuickStep
5 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
7 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal
8 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
9 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
10 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky at same time
198 Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora Argon 18 @16:23
General Classification
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff in 8-34-42
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx-QuickStep at 8 secs
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar at 10 secs
4 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Alpecin at 14 secs
5 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky at 14 secs
6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing at 14 secs
7 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar at 14 secs
8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff at 14 secs
9 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange at 14 secs
10 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx-QuickStep at 14 secs
198 Sam Bennett (IRL) Bora Argon 18 @16:37
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