Nog 29 km – Will Vingegaard go for the mountain points? We are almost at the top.
Nog 30 km – Crash! A bit further back in the peloton, some riders crash. Everything is still going well in the front for now.
Nog 30 km – Jonas Vingegaard is also at the very front. He already took one mountain point yesterday; there are two up for grabs at the top of this climb. Pogacar is on his wheel.
Nog 30 km – Can we call this an attack? Wout van Aert is definitely accelerating on the first category three climb of this Tour: the Côte du Haut Pichot (1.1 kilometers at 9 percent). Van der Poel is doing well for now.
Nog 32 km – For now, we have a status quo: the peloton is riding compactly together, and no one seems to be attempting a breakaway. In a few kilometers, the Côte du Haut Pichot (1.1 kilometers at 9 percent) follows. Will we see a group ride away here?
Nog 35 km – The teams at the front: Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike, Soudal-Quick Step, and UAE Team Emirates. Not the least…
Nog 38 km – It’s windy in France, but the wind direction isn’t good for echelons. In any case, today’s conditions are not easy.
Nog 42 km – Adam Yates, an important teammate of Pogacar, is on the side with a flat tire. The team car is quickly bringing new material.
Nog 45 km – The calm seems to have returned to the peloton. In just under twenty kilometers, the first climb of the third category of this Tour is on the program: the Côte du Haut Pichot (1.1 kilometers at 9 percent). Opportunities for Van der Poel to break it open? Not much later, the Côte de Saint-Étienne (1.1 kilometers at 9.4 percent) follows, also of the third category.
Nog 47 km – Some delay at the back of the peloton, as part of it ends up in the ditch. The road is currently a bit narrower than at the intermediate sprint.
Nog 49 km – Alpecin-Deceuninck immediately increases the pace at the front. As does Soudal-Quick Step, Remco Evenepoel’s team.
Nog 52 km – And in the meantime, the lead of the quartet at the front is also over. The peloton is complete again!
Nog 53 km – The sprint of the peloton at the points is a photo finish. We do see that Jonathan Milan is furious with Biniam Girmay, but it’s not entirely clear why. He didn’t seem to box in the Lidl-Trek rider.
Nog 55 km – The quartet arrives at the intermediate sprint before they are caught. It seems that Fedorov crosses the line first. Let’s see who deserves the title best of the rest.
Nog 59 km – The team cars have to go between the peloton and the leading group. The quartet at the front now only has a margin of 35 seconds.
Nog 61 km – The time difference is now dropping below 50 seconds. The peloton is rotating rapidly.
Nog 63 km – The time difference has decreased slightly again, to 1 minute and 10 seconds… Will the peloton catch the leading group before the intermediate sprint? We will see this in just over 8 kilometers.
The team of Van der Poel is working hard at the head of the peloton. The men in gray and yellow have been at the front of the large group for the entire stage.
Nog 77 km – Alpecin-Deceuninck is accelerating once again, at the head of the peloton. Silvan Dillier in particular has been toiling all day.
Nog 79 km – The time difference is decreasing faster and faster, in the run-up to the intermediate sprint. The quartet has only 1 minute and 35 seconds left of the lead.
Nog 85 km – Yellow jersey wearer Jasper Philipsen is now also working hard at the head of the peloton. He seems to be doing work here, just like his teammates, for Mathieu van der Poel. In about 32 kilometers, the Belgian can sprint for the points classification. There is a good chance that he will no longer wear yellow after today, but Philipsen also leads the points classification. So perhaps we will see him in green tomorrow.
Nog 88 km – The time difference between the leading group and the peloton is falling below 2 minutes for the first time today. In about 35 kilometers, the intermediate sprint is on the program.
Nog 94 km – The difference between the peloton and the leading group has been reduced slightly again. The margin is now 2 minutes 15 seconds.
Nog 102 km – The peloton has now also reached the top of the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin (1.2 kilometers at 5 percent). The time difference with the quartet at the front is 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
Nog 104 km – The mountain point goes to Leknessund; the Norwegian is the first to the top. The peloton has now also started the climb.
Nog 105 km – The leading group has started the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin (1.2 kilometers at 5 percent). What happens to the time differences between the quartet at the front and the peloton?
Nog 110 km – The riders are almost at the first climb of the day. At the top of the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin (1.2 kilometers at 5 percent) there is one mountain point. The four men at the front can fight it out to see who will pick this up.
Nog 113 km – The race situation has remained fairly stable. The peloton is still 2 minutes and 30 seconds behind the leading group of four. Jonas Vingegaard is briefly shown on screen and waves to the camera.
Nog 124 km – In about 18 kilometers, the riders will reach the first climb of the day: the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin (1.2 kilometers at 5 percent). The climb is of the fourth category, so there is one mountain point up for grabs at the top.
Nog 125 km – The weather seems to be clearing up again now. We see that the leading group of four is riding in the sun; it is also dry at the finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The riders just rode a small section in the sun, but now it is raining hard again above the peloton.
Nog 138 km – The current state of affairs has been the same for a while now. The leading group of four has a lead of about 2.5 minutes. The favorites for the stage win and the GC riders are hiding in the peloton. Few surprises so far.
Remco Evenepoel should certainly not be left out of the list of favorites today. The Belgian lost a lot of time yesterday after being the victim of a split in the peloton. If Evenepoel makes a bid for the win, there is a good chance that other GC riders will also come to the front.
Nog 152 km – The difference between the leading group and the peloton is decreasing slightly, to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Armirail and Van Moer seem to have held back for a moment to be able to get reinforcements Leknessund and Fedorov. They went hard against the asphalt.
Also, a lot of cycling fans have braved the rain. Despite the sad weather, it is quite busy along the sides.
Nog 160 km – It took quite a bit of strength, but Fedorov and Leknessund have reconnected with Armirail and Van Moer.
Nog 164 km – Crash! The first crash of the day is a fact, and it is two men in the leading group! Andreas Leknessund and Yevgeniy Fedorov slide out on the slippery asphalt. They are back on their feet, but now have to chase the duo at the front. Armirail and Van Moer stayed upright.
Nog 165 km – The difference between the leading group and the peloton has increased slightly again, to 3 minutes. In the peloton, there is a lot of hard work to limit the differences, especially by Team Alpecin-Deceuninck and Team Intermarché-Wanty.
Nog 175 km – The difference between the leading group and the peloton is about 2 minutes and 45 seconds.
Nog 177 km – At the head of the peloton, Team Intermarché-Wanty is working hard to limit the difference with the leading group, as is Team Alpecin-Deceuninck. Just after 150 kilometers of racing, the intermediate sprint is on the program, and both teams have a candidate for the points classification with Biniam Girmay and Jasper Philipsen respectively.
Nog 187 km – The time difference has increased a little more, but not as quickly as in the beginning. Armirail, Fedorov, Van Moer and Leknessund currently have about 2 minutes and 35 seconds on the peloton.
Nog 199 km – The quartet at the front is working well together and has now collected a lead of 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Nog 202 km – We have only been on the road for a few minutes, but there are already dozens of riders on the side for a pee break.
Nog 203 km – Yes! The four men are creating 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 breakaway.
Nog 205 km – The weather conditions are really terrible in Northern France! It is raining very hard, and the asphalt looks slippery. Escaping under 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 immediately see the necessary breakaway attempts. Will we get a quick, successful breakaway?