Tour de France 2015: Rohan Dennis sacrifices yellow jersey for BMC’s ambitions

ROHAN Dennis’ stint in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France is over after he sacrificed his own chances to enhance team leader Tejay van Garderen’s overall prospects on a treacherous second stage.

ROHAN Dennis’ stint in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France is over after he sacrificed his own chances to enhance team leader Tejay van Garderen’s overall prospects on a treacherous second stage.

The Adelaide 25-year-old took the yellow jersey by winning Stage 1 on Saturday night but refused to chase his leader van Garderen after heavy rain and wind caused a split in the peloton on the 166km Stage 2 from Utrecht to Zelande.

German sprinter Andre Greipel won the stage and Swiss superstar Fabian Cancellara took over the race lead by finishing in a select group together at the front.

But the chaos was happening behind them with defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and star Nairo Quintana among the big-names conceding 1min 28secs in Dennis’ group.

“I expected it to be hard, there was always going to be the crosswinds, but I didn’t expect to have to make the call out on that road that I did,” said Dennis who rides for BMC.

Germany's Andre Greipel celebrates as he crosses the finish line ahead of Peter Sagan to win the second stage of the Tour de France.

“That they (teammates) don’t wait for me and go ahead when there was a small split, but that's racing.

“(Thibaut) Pino let the wheel go and they looked at me to close the gap but I knew straight away that Tejay was in front.

“I looked around and saw Nibali was there as well. So I made the call not to chase because if Nibali losses time, it is better.

“It was a bit hard to swallow, but I came to terms with it. I could have closed the gap and taken Nibali with me — which more than likely would have meant I would have kept the jersey.

“But by sitting up, Nibali lost time, which makes it better for Tejay, who is our goal for the Tour.

“In the end it was the best decision to make for Tejay’s long-term goal in Paris.”

It was also a tough day for fellow Australian Adam Hansen who dislocated his shoulder in a crash but managed to ride the 56km to the finish.

Scans in hospital revealed damage to his right shoulder but Hansen — who is on course to complete a record-equalling 12 consecutive Grand Tours — was hopeful of starting last night’s Stage 3 from Antwerp to Huy in Belgium.

Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE director Matt White said he was pleased his riders made it through the chaotic stage safely.

“It could have been a lot worse conditions, but there was a pretty stressful hour of gale-force wind and torrential rain,” White said.

“For us, getting through unscathed was definitely the main objective and thankfully, despite a lot of crashes throughout the day, all of our boys managed that.”

Despite losing the yellow jersey, Dennis remained positive.

“It was a good experience, it was an honour to wear it and I hope it happens again, maybe next year, I don’t know what the course is but it’s always a goal of mine to wear the leader’s jersey especially in the biggest race of the year,” Dennis said.

“Everyone said to me ‘it must feel like a dream come true’ and it really is, when I was a kid I only knew of the Tour de France and it was always ‘I want to win that race or at least lead it for a short period’.”

2015 TOUR DE FRANCE

STAGE 2

166km Utrecht to Zelande

1. Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Soudal 3hrs 29mins 3secs

2. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo same time

3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing s.t

4. Mark Cavendish (GBR) Etixx-QuickStep s.t

5. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC s.t

OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 3hrs 44mins 1sec

2. Tony Martin (Ger) Etixx-QuickStep +3secs

3. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin +6secs

4. Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo +33secs

5. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky +35secs

LAST NIGHT

STAGE 3

160km Antwerp to Huy

TONIGHT

STAGE4

224km Seriang to Cambrai

TV — Live on SBS 1 at 9.35pm