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Another "boring" sprint stage perhaps? Lets have a look.
Although the Tour de France regularly visits the Vendée province, stage 2 features the prefecture La Roche-sur-Yon on the map of the race for the first time since 1934 when it was the starting town of the first ever time trial in the history of the race. At the difference of stage 1 that was contested mostly along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the second day is completely inland, passing through Les Herbiers, the home of the famous Chrono des Nations time trial that brings down the curtain at the end of the European cycling season. It’s suitable for another breakaway from far out and another bunch sprint
Flat again:
Last 5km, flat too, though according to INRNG:
The Finish: after crossing the A87 autoroute there’s a long straight run into town and then a technical final five kilometres where the road twists and turns through the town before heading back out to the edge of town for a nondescript finish, the Tour is too big to visit the old town centre. Within the final kilometre the road drops down to a roundabout and takes a sharp exit to the right. Then after passing under a bridge with 550m to go the final metres are slightly uphill, 2-3%.
Who's on the mix for this one? There's only one place to go and that INRNG:
Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step) made it look easy yesterday and so did his team which strengthens his chance of a repeat win. Remember too that he won the intermediate sprint too. So he’s the obvious pick for Stage 2. Marcel Kittel (Katusha-Alpecin) was quick yesterday, he just started from too far back so concerns about his form are lessened. Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Emirates) was close but how can he outsprint his rivals? Otherwise the likes of Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto-Jumbo) and Peter Sagan should be close. Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) missed out yesterday and is one to watch and Christophe Laporte(Cofidis) was a creditable fifth. Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) finished 36th yesterday and isn’t an easy pick but let’s see if he’s out of the picture today, ditto André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) who was 26th.
And finally, a quick look back on yesterdays "boring" stage. Nothing for the GC guys to worry about at all? Nice bunch gallop just to allocate the yellow jersey? Err no, not all, Froome loses 51 seconds to Uran and Landa as do Yates and Porte. Quintana loses 1'15". Ridiculous. Here's a few pics.
Not sure about Froome's CX technique here, not the first time he's had to run at The Tour mind you:
Lawson Craddock, nails:
Gavi takes the win:
Oh, and for those who haven't seen it, here's Froome's crash, as caught by his onboard camera. Note how lucky he is to avoid the bollard.
Edit, sod it, I can't get the vid to work, can someone do it for me? And perhaps explain what I'm doing wrong please?
Excellent work sir 🙂
Hoping Cav can get close to the front today, but I think it'll be Gav again.
Also hoping that there's a more GC action, yesterday was a bonkers last 10k.
One horse race 🐴
Whilst we are in the Norvern Bit, Gavi.
The QS bouys are here to clean up where they can, the only other interlopers could be Cav (but his lead out looked throttled yesterday) and Démare... who I am hoping after yesterday’s sojourn has decided to follow another lead out, like the QS bouys.
Kittlel needs to warm up in this race before he is able to fight for a win, Sagan has other harder stages in sight, GroanWaggon needs to organise his lead out to be more effective but he’s definitely got the legs so here’s hoping 👍
All in all the first stage went as expected IMO, tension and positioning and new bikes and DS’s shoutouts only serve to make the 1st full of anxiety and fraught moments.
Did anyone see Serena Williams' tweet a few days ago protesting about being tested and the tester had (quite correctly) refused to let her out of sight but it took her ages to go to the loo so the tester was basically following her round the house for hours. She complained bitterly about it in a series of tweets.
Johnathan Vaughters put a dig in at her yesterday because Lawson Craddock was randomly selected for doping control. With a broken shoulder. He complied. Then he went to hospital to get his shoulder seen to.
Hard as nails!
Thanks for the dailies, Lunge.
I'll be looking forward to tuning in everyday.
It'll be the same today as yesterday, with a different winner.
Kittel.
Possibly.
I think the finish looks quite technical, which might disrupt the QS train. I still think Gaviria has the chops for the win but there’s a bit more chance that a freelancer might sneak through.
Am am kind of pleased with the GC times yesterday - will mean that the TTT is less of a game ender for the likes of Bardet and Urán.
How many times did that bloke have to ride along at 5mph pretending to change gear but with a different watch on each time?! That advert is going to be really annoying...
Interesting that even on flat stages now, far more teams are on disc brakes as standard. Trek Segafredo, Wanty--Group Goubert, Quick Step, EF Drapac....
I’ve had a think, Gavi should win but I think this is a Sagan stage with the tech finish.
All getting a bit nervy. Bad luck for Demare for the second day running...
Very nervy indeed. Big crash.
Sagan! Scrappy sprint, all over the shop but the main man takes it.
Got to ask, why the hell are they not on tubeless tyres?! Punctures for Demare (who managed to chase back on), Kittel (who's day was done immediately).
Real dribs and drabs over the line, it's been blown to pieces by the various crashes and the speed of the run in.
Sags eh, oowdafunkit?
Scrappy again, but the Vendée looks awesome.
Dribs and drabs is because no time lost. Sad to see a crash in the run in but it was widely predicted. Sagan’s sprint was all over the place. Massive power though. And I like to see him win such a classy rider.
I cant see Cav getting his nose in front this year for a stage. Needs more races. Maybe n the transition if he lasts that long
wouldn't have stopped in time with calipers 😉
Got to ask, why the hell are they not on tubeless tyres?!
Chris Boardman questioned why more don't use latex in the tyres, hinting therefore that some do. Apparently the weight penalty is 60 odd grams.