Tom Dumoulin sprinted to 8th and takes the white jersey. Andre Greipel took the victory today and Fabian Cancellara is the new owner of the yellow jersey. Warren Barguil showed an excellent race by finishing at 10th.

After a very successful opening time trial with massive crowds the peloton left Utrecht this morning for a stage of 166km to finish on the flood barrier Neeltje Jans. As the start sign was given four riders attacked and the bunch gave them the opportunity to take the publicity.

After 65km the first effects of the cross winds were noticed, as splits happened in the bunch. The gap to the four leaders went from 2’30” back to 30” and they were caught with 62.5km to go.

A major point of the race was at km108, as the bunch took a left turn with a crosswind coming from the right side. For the second time the bunch split and this time it was decisive. The first group of 24 riders got away including Tom Dumoulin and Warren Barguil. A chasing group with John Degenkolb and Ramon Sinkeldam was left behind.

In the sprint at Neeltje Jans German Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) was the fastest and won the stage. Tom Dumoulin took 8th and Warren Barguil 10th.

The winner of yesterday, Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) was not part of the first group and lost his yellow jersey today to Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing). Tom Dumoulin moves up one place in the GC to third, and more important; he takes the white jersey.

Tom Dumoulin reflected: “My day was good but not perfect. We went for the sprint opportunity for John [Degenkolb] today. He was caught up and not in the first group after the split.

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I only enjoyed the first 20km today, with all the amazing crowds in the Netherlands. After that, the Tour started with all its chaos and stress. I fought for my position all day, which went quite well as the split took place behind me. That was not just luck.

“I can leave the Netherlands with my head held high, as I performed well yesterday. Now I have the white jersey, which feels good and is nice, definitely more special than just wearing it. I hope I can go for yellow now, I will fight and will do my best.

"I was more than a little bit disappointed yesterday and I was definitely on the hunt for the yellow jersey today but I have to look for it again tomorrow. The big thing is to manage to make the front group. It's going to be as stressful as today. It won't be decided only by the legs on the Mur de Huy but mostly by positioning before. Maybe I'm a better climber than Martin and Cancellara but I have to be up there to take the yellow jersey."

Warren Barguil said: “I am happy with my result, we were strong as a team and rode together well.

“It was a hectic day and a big pleasure for me to start my first regular stage at the Tour de France. I was lucky because I wasn’t involved in a crash today, I was really scared of that during the race.

“I was in good position when the split happened and was in the first group. At the finished I tried to sprint but that turned out too hard because of the high speed.”

A disappointed John Degenkolb said: “It’s sad that I missed that chance today. I was behind a crash and than too far back when the split happened so I missed the first group due to that.

“We have to look ahead and I am actually looking forward to the days to come, as we will have new opportunities there.”

Coach Marc Reef added: “I have mixed feelings about today. Too bad we missed our chance to go for John [Degenkolb], as that was our primary goal. But really strong from Tom [Dumoulin] and Warren [Barguil], they showed that they are capable of handling the highest level.

“It was really hectic today. We pointed out km108 as a really important moment in the race. Just before that, Koen [de Kort] and Simon [Geschke] were caught up due to a crash. When we turned left, Warren [Barguil], John [Degenkolb], Tom [Dumoulin] and Ramon [Sinkeldam] were in the front and three others took care of that, so good team work on that. Then, a second split took place as Tom [Dumoulin] and Warren [Barguil] ended up in the first group.”