Stage 2 of the Tour was designed as a stage that would challenge GC contenders who were not used to classics riding and who did not have teammates or directeur sportifs who could help them over the flat, wind-swept, 166-km course from Utrecht to Zeeland in the Netherlands. Things played out that way today. The wind caused the field to form into echelons, and several contenders found themselves one and a half minutes behind the two dozen strong lead group at the finish. Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) took the small group sprint to win the stage in 3:29:03.