Tour de France 2017: Stage 2
by Katie Haskins
Stage type: Road Race
Length: 203.5 km/126.4 miles
Route: Dusseldorf, Germany to Liege, Belgium
Weather: Rain
It’s Stage 2. It’s still raining, and we’re still not in France. Today’s stage included two Category 4 climbs, with Taylor Phinney taking the King of the Mountain points for both.
Despite the rain, there were fewer crashes than yesterday. Only one big one that happened at about 30 km/19 miles left. It occurred near the front of the peloton and took down a lot of the main contenders. Thankfully, everyone got up and made it to the finish line.
A group of four riders broke off the front as soon as the race started and they were not caught until 1.3 km/.8 miles from the end. Thankfully the rain stopped by the time they were 10 km/ 6 miles from the finish, making the bunch sprint less dangerous. Marcel Kittel took the victory in 4:37:06.
