John Degenkolb is the #2 sprinter in Argos-Shimano after Marcel Kittel who won stage 1. But Degenkolb is no slouch against the sprinters. Last year, he won 5 stages via sprint in the VueltaaEspana. Yesterday however, against the Tourminator, Peter Sagan, he was no match, even if he tried to jumpstart (and I think desperate) the sprint 50 meters early. Sagan was gapped but just like an ice-cold assassin, he calmly pulled back Degenkolb and won by a comfortable margin. I think there were a lot of relieved faces in the Cannondale team after that.
So where was Mark Cavendish, Kittel and Andre Greipel? Well, Cannondale, knowing that the trio were allergic to ascents, increased the pace on the second climb of the day, the Col de la Croix de Mounis, and dropped them. In spite of a chase, they finally gave up for another day and crossed the line more than 14 minutes behind Sagan.
Tonight, new set of characters will appear. It’s the mountains, baby! So, no more Sagan, Cav, Greipel and the sprinters. Instead of Quickstep, Cannondale or Lotto at the front, it’ll be the turn of the teams with overall dreams- Sky and Chris Froome, Alberto Contador and Saxo-Tinkoff and Cadel Evans and BMC. There will be breakaways, too, and I won’t be surprised to see Europcar, Euskaltel, or Cofidis out in the front in the hope of snagging a stage.
Sometimes, the change from flat roads to the climbs will make some riders uncomfortable. The peloton will be nervous, as usual, in these first mountain stages. I believe that Chris Froome will make a statement today and get the win. I’m sure Contador will be a factor but at this point, we don’t know his current form. All we know was that he was 75% three weeks ago. It’ll be an interesting tonight!