The start of the 2nd stage of Tour de Francescheduled for this Sunday morning at Lauwin-Planque, was delayed for fifteen minutes due to heavy rains that touched the region in the night and at the start of the morning. The bad weather caused major traffic jams near the starting area, complicating access for several teams, followers and spectators.
VIDEO – Mathieu van der Poel when the 1st stage of this tour arrives
An improvement in weather conditions …
Faced with this situation, the organization of Tour made the decision to slightly shift the start to guarantee logistics security and allow all racing vehicles to arrive in time. The fictitious departure was therefore given at 12:30 p.m., instead of 12:15 p.m. If the weather conditions remain wet, forecasts, however, announce a gradual improvement over the day, which should limit risks on the road.
The Tour de France is now well launched! After the royal victory in the sprint of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) In Lille, the 2nd stage will offer runners a much more damaged course this Sunday, July 6, with 209.1 km (the longest stage of these three weeks) and 2,550 meters of elevation on the menu between Lauwin-Planque and Boulogne-sur-Mer, where the yellow jersey could well change its shoulders. Especially since the rain was invited at the start of this 2nd stage of the Tour. It is even the flood but the sun should reappear in the last hour of the race and the arrival in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The hills of Artois and Boulonnais will use the legs throughout the day before the final bouquet and 3 difficulties in the last ten kilometers: the Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont (1 km at 10.6 %), followed by that of Outreau (800 m to 8.8 %) then a final stiffener once the red flame has passed. Thirteen years earlier, Peter Sagan had walked around and had triumphed in Boulogne-sur-Mer, and we expect a good fight between the best punchers and even the peloton favorites to succeed the Slovak.
Van der poel, pogacar, nys … the favorites of this 2nd stage
After a single day of racing, the contenders will of course be legion to hope to raise their arms and make a double blow with the very likely gain of the yellow jersey, the pure sprinters not being expected at the party if the announced fight takes place. On this kind of profile, a Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-deceuninck) is a favorite, just like a Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) for a remake of their spring duels on the classics. But the many punchers must not be ruled out on the race, with outsiders like Thibau Nys, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-trek), Wout van Aert(Visma), Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost)…
A route which should also promote the many French punchers, like Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), Romain Grégoire(Groupama-FDJ) or Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team). For the rest of the favorites, it will especially be necessary to avoid the traps and the breaks in order to waste as little time as possible in this feared final.
The route of the 2nd stage
– Sunday July 6 – Step 2 : Lauwin-Planque-Boulogne-sur-Mer / 209.1 km
