SHEFFIELD // Italian Vincenzo Nibali claimed the overall lead on the Tour de France after a late attack earned him victory in the second stage yesterday.
The Astana rider powered away about two kilometres from the finish and held off the peloton, with Belgian Greg van Avermaet and Pole Michal Kwiatkowski finishing second and third, respectively.
The top favourites showed their muscles in the finale, with Alberto Contador and defending champion Chris Froome attacking on the last climb, but Nibali’s move was the smartest. “It was a fantastic day, I made a good move,” Nibali said.
“It was tough because there was a lot of headwind. The last 1.5km was really long. It will be tough to keep it until Paris, but we know it is going to be hard.”
Froome said he was looking to avoid trouble.
“The goal was to be in front to stay out of trouble. It was a hard day, but the support was incredible,” he said. “I’m tired, but I hope everyone is tired after a day like this.”
Nibali leads pre-stage favourite Peter Sagan of Slovakia, who took fourth place, by two seconds. Froome and Contador are also two seconds off the pace, in fifth and eighth, respectively.
Nibali snatched the yellow jersey from German Marcel Kittel, who had little chance of retaining his lead, since the hilly terrain did not suit him. Kittel fell off his bike early, but did not sustain any injury, according to his team.
After a quiet start, things got serious at Holme Moss, a 4.7-kilometre climb at an average gradient of seven per cent with about 60,000 spectators lining the road, according to local police.
Frenchman Blel Kadri, who featured in the morning breakaway, was first to the top and was chased by a group of five that included German Tony Martin. They were all reined in with 36km left, leaving the top guns battling it out.
The stage started without Briton Mark Cavendish, who was ruled out after crashing on Saturday.
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