Sagan seizes stage and yellow jersey

World champion Peter Sagan’s first victory on the Tour de France since 2013 saw the Slovakian sensation move into a career-first yellow jersey in Cherbourg after an explosive stage two in Normandy.

Sagan of Tinkoff beat Etixx – Quick-Step rider Julian Alaphilippe into second place and Alejandro Valverde of Movistar into third on an uphill finish in Cherbourg to seal the fifth Tour stage win of his career and claim the yellow jersey for the first time.

Chris Froome  of Team Sky followed on the same time in 10th place, but Alberto Contador riding for Tinkoff lost 48 seconds and Richie Porte of BMC Racing shipped 1min 45sec as their hopes of overall victory took damaging early blows. Previous race leader Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data finished 1min 45sec down after being dropped in a hilly final 3.5km containing a 1.9km climb and then a steep 700m ramp to the line. Sagan now rises to the top of the general classification and opens up leads of eight seconds over second-placed Alaphilippe and 10 seconds over third-placed Valverde.