Stage 2 thwarts Porte again as Froome firms at Le Tour 2017

WHAT is the deal with Richie Porte and the second stage of the Tour de France?

It was at that point last year that a most untimely puncture ruined his chances of dethroning Chris Froome.

This time around, an unavoidable pile-up at a roundabout took out those two and half the peloton on the way to Liege.

Porte was quicker to recover than Froome, yet the latter reached the line with a healthy lead over his chief rival for the yellow jersey.

After rain had transformed the Dusseldorf time trials into a nightmare for all but the most skilful bike-handlers, things were little better on the road through Belgium as the heavens opened again.

“Oh, it was stressful,” Porte told reporters in Liege.

“First stage of the Tour and then you get the rain, then it dries up and then it starts raining again.

“It’s nice to get the first crash out of the way and you know, get on with it.”

⚡️Flash⚡️ A combative breakaway, the favourites’ crash and Marcel Kittel’s stunning win in Liège. Stage 2 in 30 seconds only!#TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/ajzR1qk5VR

— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 2, 2017

Many had the Australian entering the race as the outright favourite, but that status vanished when he gave up 35 seconds to Froome on the time trials.

As such, online bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au has moved the defending champion from +150 into -120.48 to win the general classification for a fourth time.

Porte, who went into the weekend pegged just behind at +180, has blown out to +400.

The big concern for the Tasmanian now is how his body bounces back from the crash ahead of the trek to Longwy.

“Obviously I got tangled up in it, but I came out of it OK,” he said.

“There was a few guys who went down quite a lot harder and fortunately I landed on top of them.”

“Hopefully the knee is OK. I got a bit of a bang on that.”

Geraint Thomas retained the yellow jersey, but it was Quick-Step’s Marcel Kittel who claimed the stage after catching the breakaway and outfoxing the likes of Andre Greipel, Sonny Colbrelli and Peter Sagan at the finish.

The big German is not expected to feature at the front end of a hillier passage through the Ardennes in stage three, where five-time green jersey winner Sagan is the obvious favourite at +275.

Yet the bookies have Kittel as almost unbeatable at -149.25 to take out stage four – a 207km jaunt from Mondorf-les-Bains to Vittel.

Betting for Stage 3: Verviers/Longwy

+275 – Peter Sagan

+500 – Michael Matthews

+800 – Philippe Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaet

+1200 – Arnaud Demare

+1400 – John Degenkolb

+1600 – Sonny Colbrelli

+1800 – Edvald Boasson Hagen

+2500 – Ben Swift, Matteo Trentin, Diego Ulissi

+3300 – Michael Albasini, Fabio Felline, Daniel Martin, Zdenek Stybar

+4000 – Michal Kwiatkowski

+6600 – Carlos Betancur, Nacer Bouhanni, Tim Wellens

+8000 – Marcel Kittel, Andre Greipel, Alexey Lutsenko, Oliver Naesen

(More quoted)

Betting for Stage 4: Mondorf-les-Bains/Vittel

-149.25 – Marcel Kittel

+500 – Arnaud Demare

+800 – Andre Greipel

+1200 – Mark Cavendish

+1600 – Peter Sagan

+1800 – Dylan Groenewegen

+3300 – Nacer Bouhanni

+4000 – Alexander Kristoff

+6600 – Sonny Colbrelli, Daniel McLay

+10000 – Michael Matthews

(More quoted)

2017 Tour de France outright winner

-120.48 – Chris Froome

+400 – Richie Porte

+700 – Nairo Quintana

+1200 – Fabio Aru

+1800 – Geraint Thomas, Romain Bardet, Alberto Contador

+3300 – Jakob Fuglsang

+6600 – Rafal Majka, Louis Meintjes, Esteban Chaves

+8000 – Simon Yates, Daniel Martin, Thibaut Pinot

(More quoted)

All markets courtesy of Sportsbet.com.au