Stage 2

The road

At the start

Kittel in yellow, and four climbs

Marcel Kittel came out of yesterday's confusion in Bastia with the stage, the yellow jersey and the green — and because the organisers moved the finish line twice, everybody else got the same time as him. Today Corsica shows what it is for: a hundred and fifty-four kilometres to Ajaccio over four climbs, ending on the short, steep Côte du Salario.

How it was won

1. 167 km to go

   Corsica eats the sprinters

   On the Col de la Serra the yellow jersey comes off the back. Marcel Kittel loses three minutes almost at once, then five, then ten; Mark Cavendish goes with him. Pierre Rolland attacks over the top for the mountain points and Sky answer by drilling the descent.

2. 214 km to go

   Froome tests the water

   The Côte du Salario is barely a kilometre long and steep enough to change everything. Flecha and Gautier go on the first slopes; Porte sets the pace for Sky with Evans and Valverde close. Then Chris Froome attacks — no more than a probe, but impressive enough that Evans himself has to lead the chase.

3. 39 km to go

   Six slip out of the confusion

   Cannondale smother Gautier's move and the counter goes instead: Bakelants, Fuglsang, Izagirre, Mori, Chavanel and Flecha get a gap into the last kilometres of the descent to Ajaccio.

4. 4At the line

   Bakelants holds them off

   Jan Bakelants goes alone from the six and holds the whole Tour de France at bay to the line in Ajaccio, by a second. He will wear yellow tomorrow.

The result