ITALY’S Vincenzo Nibali launched a late attack to win stage two of the Tour de France in Sheffield on Sunday and claim the race leader’s yellow jersey.

Hundreds of thousands of people again lined the 201-kilometre route from York on a brutal and unpredictable day of racing.

Among the spectators unions flags from the FBU and NUT fluttered proudly showing widespread support for the public-sector strikes this Thursday.

And the peloton also whizzed past Menwith Hill spy base in Yorkshire, where protestors on Friday gave their regular protest a Tour connection, naming the theme: “Re-cycle Menwith Hill.”

Nibali, the 2013 Giro d’Italia champion, left it late but timed his bid to the line to perfection to secure victory ahead of a number of his rivals for the overall title.

He also claimed the race leader’s maillot jaune, from stage one winner Marcel Kittel.

Alberto Contador took to the front up the day’s final climb — the brutally steep, 800m long Jenkin Road.

The Spaniard was unchallenged until, within sight of the summit, defending champion Chris Froome stretched his legs.

The descent saw and run-in saw numerous attempts to break off the front, all of which floundered until Nibali burst clear inside the final 2km.

Belgian Greg van Avermaet was second, two seconds behind, with Michal Kwiatkowski third.

The day began with Mark Cavendish confirming he’d had to pull out of the race following a crash on Saturday.

The 29-year-old suffered a separated shoulder joint after colliding with Australian Simon Gerrans.

“I’m absolutely devastated,” Cavendish said.

“We kind of knew last night. We knew straight away. I normally bounce back from crashes quite well — I assessed my body yesterday and for the first time in my career I knew something was wrong.

It is still uncertain if Cavendish will be able to participate in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for the Isle of Man.