Greipel takes stage two title

Andre Greipel edged out Peter Sagan in blustery conditions to win the second stage of the Tour de France in the Netherlands. Greipel beat out Sagan in a sprint finish with Fabio Cancellara, the new overall leader, in third ahead of Mark Cavendish.

"It was a pretty tough stage with a lot of cross wind," Greipel said after taking his seventh individual stage of the event. "I was really nervous but the team managed to keep me at the front. That was the key factor. I'm really happy with my teammates and proud."

The second stage left Utrecht and weaved through the port city of Rotterdam. After 166 kilometers, the riders finished up in Zeeland where they had to deal with rain and heavy winds.

Vincenzo Nibali and the highly-fancied Colombian Nairo Quintana fell behind by more than a minute as the conditions turned fierce around an hour into the race.

In the final kilometer, the front four detached themselves from the rest. In a mass sprint, Greipel kept pace with Mark Cavendish who made the initial burst for the finish line.

But the Brit was outpaced by the German, who beat the experienced Sagan by a wheel. Third-placed Cancellara holds a four-second overall lead going into the third stage on Monday. Germany's Tony Martin finished ninth on Sunday and is second overall, three seconds behind Cancellara.