Much of the focus on social media was whether the pattern was attached to the outside of the sleeves or woven into it, which might put it in more of a grey area as an “addition.” Nicolas Portal, a director with Sky, said that the design had been cleared by the race commission beforehand, although it’s not clear if he meant the race organization or the UCI, the sport’s governing body. The UCI is the outfit in charge of equipment rules.

Grappé is not making a specious or groundless claim; he cited a 2016 study by renowned cycling aero expert Len Brownlie to back it up. That study suggests that the effect of vortex generators can vary based on design but are good for, conservatively, a four-percent decrease in drag. However the study focused on application in track and field events where speeds, except in 100-metre sprints, would be lower than the 32mph average that the top riders clocked in Dusseldorf.

Whatever the case, it’s a debate that is sure to revive for the final time trial on Stage 20, and since Sky is regularly the focus of accusations of cheating in some form or other, it’s probably only the start of Sky-related polemics for the Tour.

A Costly First Stage, and Some Tough Tour Riders

Saturday’s rainy time trial proved to be a huge success for Team Sky, but badly damaging to other teams. Worst off were Movistar and Bahrain-Merida, which saw high-profile riders Alejandro Valverde and Ion Izaguirre crash out. Orica-Scott’s Luke Durbridge did not finish Stage 2, so after two days—one a time trial, no less—the race already has three abandons and a number of other riders banged up.

At least 10 riders crashed on the slippery, technical course, many in the same corner as Valverde. Since it wasn’t a sharp bend or on narrow roads, questions have been raised about whether there was oil or another substance that made it more slick. Conditions did seem pretty slippery; when LottoNL-Jumbo’s George Bennett crashed (same corner), his mechanic gave him a spare bike and a running push-start, only to slide on the road himself when he turned around to race back to the team car.

Some of the crashes were especially violent. British Tour fan Ash Coning (@AshConing) was on the route and shot video of Cannondale-Drapac’s Patrick Bevin sliding into the barriers at full speed on the same corner Valverde crashed in. Coning’s tweet, captioned “So, how tough are professional cyclists?” has more than 3,500 retweets as of Sunday AM.

https://twitter.com/AshConing/status/881247743720796160

Bevin was shaken up, but remounted his spare bike and continued. Showing fans’ increasing awareness of the risks of the sport, many questioned whether Bevin should have continued. But Cannondale officials said that Bevin went through the team’s concussion protocol post-stage and shows no signs of a head injury, and his helmet also did not show any signs of impact.

Speaking of Valverde, the Spanish rider had surgery to repair a fractured patella; he also broke a bone in his ankle and will likely miss the rest of the 2017 season.

Your First KOM Jersey Wearer is 1.98m and 82kg

Taylor Phinney is a Tour debutante despite being in his seventh pro season. He’s known as a talented time triallist, a good classics racer and a decent sprinter. One thing he’s not known for? Climbing. But after narrowly missing a stage win in the Stage 1 Time Trial, Phinney struck out on the breakaway on Stage 2, winning both Category 4 climbs, worth one point each.

He’ll start Stage 3 of his first tour in the polka-dot jersey of the race’s best climber. Phinney also narrowly missed another stage win, getting caught just over a kilometer from the line. The Stage 2 victory went to Quickstep’s Marcel Kittel, notably the first Tour stage won aboard a disc-brake equipped bike.