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Tour de France standings 2017: Marcel Kittel wins sprint, American Taylor Phinney falls just short of breakaway win

Marcel Kittel won a bunch sprint on a day highlighted by a major crash with 30 kilometers to go.

Jul 2, 2017, 3:11 PM UTC

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Marcel Kittel won an inevitable bunch sprint at the end of Stage 2 of the Tour de France, but the victory was hardly the story of the day.

As with Stage 1, riders had to battle rain and wet roads throughout the stage, especially once they passed Aachen and entered Belgium. Early stages and their big, tightly-packed pelotons are often ripe for big crashes.

Disaster struck with 30 kilometers to go when a big crash took out dozens of riders, including Chris Froome, yellow-jersey wearer Geraint Thomas, and last year’s Tour de France runner-up Romain Bardet. Froome appeared to be ginger after the accident. There is no word yet of any significant injuries.

American Taylor Phinney put in a spirited effort to try to become the first American to wear the yellow jersey since 2006. He spent the day in a breakaway with three French riders — Thomas Boudat, Yoann Offredo, and Laurent Pichon. He and Offredo broke free of their hangers-on over the summit of the final Category 4 climb, spurred by the crash behind them that had given them hope of going the distance.

The break was caught with under two kilometers to go, after Phinney and Offredo had rode more than 200 kilometers on their own. But Phinney’s presence in the breakaway was nonetheless a welcome sight. A story in the New York Times this week detailed his comeback from a career-threatening broken leg to race in his first ever Tour de France.

He was supposed to ride the Tour three years ago. But in the weeks leading up to it, he crashed into a guardrail going more than 60 miles per hour, breaking his left leg in multiple places, shattering bones, severing a tendon and partially tearing a ligament. The scars on his leg today are a road map of suffering, zigzagging around his knee and down his leg.
Those scars, once red and angry, hinted that Phinney should quit the sport. They also were constant reminders of a doctor’s words: “You’ll probably never run again.”

If Phinney had won the stage, he would have been the first American rider to do so since Tyler Farrar in 2011, and potentially the first American to wear the yellow jersey since George Hincapie in 2006. His father, Davis Phinney, was the first American to ever win a stage in the Tour de France.

Unfortunately, the breakaway wasn’t meant to be, but by being the first man over both Category 4 climbs on the day, Phinney was able to take the lead in the King of the Mountains classification. He will wear the polka dot jersey on Stage 3.

There were small changes atop the general classification. Marcel Kittel moved up, thanks to a 10-second time bonus for winning the race. He is now in third place behind Geraint Thomas and Stefan Küng, and will be wearing green as the Tour’s points leader. Tony Martin, who had been in fourth place, was involved in the crash, and finished 10 minutes behind the peleton, plummeting him down the classification.

Otherwise, the riders atop the standings were content to stay in the peloton, or close to it, and take the blanket time for all the finishers.

The lasting legacy of Stage 2 will be the crash. How well will Froome, Thomas, Bardet, and others race after their hard falls? What condition are they in? An up-and-down Stage 3 will be a significant test of their fitness after a tough first two days of the Tour.