We are only a few minutes underway, but there are already dozens of riders on the side for a pee break.
Yes! The four men are making a serious gap, so it looks like we are watching the breakaway of the day. Armirail, Fedorov, Van Moer and Leknessund currently have about 50 seconds on the peloton. The controllers of the large group, especially Alpecin-Deceuninck, will be happy that only four men are part of the escape.
The weather conditions are really bad in Northern France! It is raining very hard, and the asphalt seems very slippery. Escaping in these circumstances, you have to be able to do it. Four men have a gap, let’s see how far they get.
Départ réel! We are definitely underway in the second stage, and we immediately see the necessary escape attempts. Will we get a quick, successful escape?
Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel were in the wrong group yesterday after a split in the peloton. As a result, they immediately lost 39 seconds in the general classification. Vingegaard and Pogacar were in the front group.
The first start selfie with this year’s jerseys! Jasper Philipsen also has the green points jersey, but because he is already wearing yellow, Anthony Turgis can wear it today.
Van der Poel drops back to the follow car for a jacket. The rain will make it feel quite cold in Lauwin-Planque.
The man in the polka dot jersey: Benjamin Thomas! The Frenchman took two of the three mountain points yesterday. Will he also join the battle for the polka dots today?
Jonas Vingegaard made a fresh impression yesterday. The Danish contender for overall victory even took a mountain point. What can Vingegaard do today?
The opening stage of the Tour de France attracted more than a million spectators along the road yesterday. In addition, the number of viewers who watched the start of the Tour de France on television was the highest in 25 years.
You can see it immediately. The weather conditions are tough in Northern France. Not necessarily a disadvantage for Mathieu van der Poel, you would say. In the past, the Dutchman has repeatedly proven that he can handle a wet course.
With a classic course, we naturally also look at the world champion and the Tour winner of last year: Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian has several monuments to his name in his career, including the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.
Favorites for victory today:⭐⭐⭐ Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pogacar⭐⭐ Roglic, Evenepoel, Philipsen
⭐ Alaphilippe, Vingegaard, Grégoire
If Van der Poel is the first to cross the finish line today, that could just mean that he will take the yellow jersey. That is still around the torso of teammate Jasper Philipsen today, who of course won the first stage yesterday.
Today there are new opportunities for Alpecin-Deceuninck, because the course of the second stage seems tailor-made for Mathieu van der Poel. The course is somewhat like a major classic such as the Amstel Gold Race, and then you quickly look at a rider like Van der Poel. At least the legs were good yesterday, what can the Dutchman do today?
A brief review of yesterday can’t hurt, because we were presented with a great opening stage. On paper, the course did not seem so impressive, flat with a few small bumps. But the strong wind threw a spanner in the works yesterday. In a thrilling final, two groups were split, causing Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic to lose a lot of time, among others. Jasper Philipsen eventually won the stage after another fine lead-out from Mathieu van der Poel and Kaden Groves.
After a fine opening stage, the second stage of the Tour de France is on the program today. It is a hilly stage of 209 kilometers, but the sting is in the tail.