Vincenzo Nibali proved that he is a serious contender for the overall victory in the Tour de France when he won today's second stage and took the yellow jersey in the process. Having faced lots of criticism due to a poor spring season, the Italian claimed to have always believed in his chances to stand on the top step of the podium in Paris later this month.

The 2014 season has definitely panned out as Vincenzo Nibali had hoped for but he has always claimed that he would be reach his best form for the Tour de France. Having won the Italian championships one week ago, he used today’s second stage of the French grand tour to prove himself right.

The brutally steep Jenkin Road presented itself as a major obstacle in the finale and after the likes of Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) had slightly tested each other on the slopes, a select group of favourites emerged in the front. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) had looked comfortable on the ascent and was the big favourite but with no teammates at his side, he faced a difficult challenge of controlling the group.

Nibali’s teammate Jakob Fuglsang was the first to attack and briefly got a small gap but when Greg Van Avermaet joined him, the move was doomed. Instead, Romain Bardet (Ag2r) and Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol) tried but they had no luck either.

When the pair was brought back, the riders again looked at each other and this was when Nibali saw his chance. The Italian made a wily move and surprisingly no one responded.

Nibali quickly got a big gap and behind the chase never got organized. Sky and Lotto Belisol both briefly reacted but never went full gas in a quest to bring the Italian back.

The situation looked dangerous when Froome and Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) got a gap and the Brit fully committed to his attack. However, Nibali dug very deep and managed to stay away to take his first Tour de France stage victory.

"I'm very happy, this is a special, unexpected moment of happiness," he saidwith a smile in his press conference. "I knew I had the form to win and taking the yellow jersey means I've now worn all three Grand Tour leader's jerseys after wearing the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana and the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia. I think only Alberto Contador has done that in the modern of Italian cycling."

"It didn’t bother me what the media said, I always believed in my chances - I came to do my very best at the Tour de France, and I think I've showed that with this win. Obviously the Tour de France does not finished here, the road ahead is long but I'm confident I can do well.

"It's a year later, so it's difficult to compare my form to the Giro d'Italia but the training has been the same and so my form is good; I think about same as the Giro. We'll see day by day there's a lot of hard stages to come and there are some big rivals to face like Froome and Contador."

"The team always believed in me and this win showed that we've worked well. It’s an important win for Kazakhstan and in the capital Astana. It's a day for them to celebrate too. 

"I'm also thinking about what is happening in my family's home town (in Messina). I'm sure they're over the moon at home and I can’t wait to speak to them. This yellow jersey is for them."

"In the finale lots of riders all tried things because we were scared of a big attack. Alberto (Contador) was up there and set the pace. Froome was controlling things and almost seemed to attack. The first real move was made by Fuglsang. Sagan closed him down and then at 1.5km to go, I found the right moment and space to go for it.

"We were lined out and Sagan had just chased Fuglsang, there was a ease in the speed and so it was good for me. It's never easy to attack like that, there was a lot of headwind, which scared me but I made it.

"This is wonderful victory! It pays me off for all the sacrifices. The beginning of the season has been a difficult one for me but I've trained hard with my team-mates for the Tour de France and my confidence is now boosted by the two victories I just got, at the Italian championship and here today.

"But I want to keep working with serenity. My main goal is to get a good result at the end of the Tour de France. I don't want to lose my head. The Tour is a very hard race. I'm superstitious so I don't want to say that I'll win the overall.

"I'm delighted to get the yellow jersey after having won the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana and the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia. This is a huge satisfaction though.

"It was a very nervous race with a lot of spectators. I found the right time to escape. They watched each other behind but I was scared to get caught because of the headwind. For sure the Tour de France doesn't finish here."