If you wondered if we were going to get another Tadej Pogačar vs Jonas Vingegaard battle at the 111th Tour de France, Sunday’s second stage affirmed it. But add Remco Evenepoel to that shortlist. After an attack with Vingegaard that Evenepoel caught at the last second, Pogačar grabbed the yellow jersey from Romain Bardet. On his Tour debut Arkea-B & B Hotels’ Kévin Vauquelin gave France its second victory in a row. Hugo Houle was in the day’s breakaway and placed ninth.
Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Richard Carapaz are all on the same time. Egan Bernal, Tom Pidcock, Carlos Rodriguez, Primoz Roglič, Enric Mas, Mikel Landa, Adam and Simon Yates and João Almeida are all +0:21. Derek Gee is 28th, +1:22.
The Course
It would be a tough ask for Day 2 in Italy to match Saturday’s Grand Départ for sheer excitement as DSM’s tactical masterclass paid off with a one-two and a yellow jersey.
Only slightly shorter than Stage 1, the second stage headed west after a transfer to Cesenatico. The climbs were also shorter than Saturday’s but steeper, the first arriving at Kilometre 74. With 35 km to go, the riders would enter the first of two finishing circuits around Bologna, both containing Côte de San Luca, almost 2 km of 10.2 percent. The final 5 km were flat. It was another hot day.
We continue the #TDF2024 with a 199.2km stage that presents a mix of the 2020 Worlds and Giro dell’Emilia, a stage where we should see the GC riders in action. pic.twitter.com/USjvr1GoFk
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) June 30, 2024
Polka-dot clad Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen had a slim KOM lead over 2023 French champion Valentin Madouas. Would they come out to play on Stage 2? The former did, but the latter didn’t make the cut of the 11-strong breakaway. Canada’s Hugo Houle fought his way in, and he was second over the top of the first climb. Abrahamsen added to his lead on Côte de Monticino and Côte de Gallisterna.
The race navigated through the famous Imola F1 autodrome.
A crash soon after the intermediate sprint put Wout van Aert on the deck, but the Belgian remounted quickly and gave the camera a thumbs up.
💥Crash in the peloton. @WoutvanAert, @MatteoJorg and @LaurensDePlus were the worst affected but all make their return to the peloton.
💥 Chute dans le peloton, @WoutvanAert, @MatteoJorg et @LaurensDePlus ont été touché…
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