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7 hours ago
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All those poor trees. Worrying news ahead of tomorrow’s third stage too, finishing uphill at Les Angles, 1,794 metres above sea level. Let’s see how things play out.
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107km to go. Molenaar, Van den Broeck and Engelhardt lead the bunch by 3 minutes 21secs, but they have had to work very hard for it. 50.9 kilometres covered in the first hour.
The leaders will have their eyes on the Côte des Begues, the second-category climb which comes with 75km to race. Win the King of the Mountains sprint there and one of them will likely come away with the polka-dot jersey for tomorrow and a lot of publicity for his team.
Added motivation for Molenaar: he might be of Dutch nationality, but his mother is Catalan and he grew up in Olot, close to Barcelona, from the age of ten.
Robin Lynch writes in:
Looking forward to the finish today, think it will be a cracker and would have been great to see Van Aert, Van Der Poel and Pogacar go together.
Do you think Van Aert’s absence will be a potential hidden benefit for Vingegaard as the team are now completely focused on one objective? As a Visma, Vingo and Van Aert fan, I am trying to see the positives here.
Good question, Robin. I think there is no replacing Van Aert as a super-domestique. He has the versatility and strength of two men. But it is fair to say, when going for his own stage wins in recent years, he was not always or even often at hand to serve Vingegaard selflessly. I still think they will miss him in the mountains though – in 2022 and 2023, he has been integral to plans which saw the Dane crack Pogacar. Overall, a net disadvantage not a benefit.
136km to go. The average speed has been a swift 48 kilometres per hour so far. As the three-man breakaway hits the Mediterranean coastline and heads towards the town of Cunit (oof, better spell that one correctly), I am going to nip out for a spot of lunch.
Feel free to drop me an email with Tour (or non-Tour) musings, something to look forward to for when I get back.
Of course, it is a whopping sporting weekend. Mexico and England play at the Azteca in 12 or so hours’ time, kudos to those who manage to stay up. Norway versus France comes first, I fancy Haaland and his countrymen to spring a surprise. Taha Hashim has all the World Cup build-up:
If tennis is more your thing, Sarah Rendell is serving up all the news from Wimbledon:
Three-man escape goes up the road
141km to go. After initial resistance from the peloton, a breakaway has established itself. The three leaders are Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Frank van den Broeck (Picnic PostNL) and German champion Felix Engelhardt (Jayco Alula).
Lotto Intermarché rider Baptiste Veistroffer is briefly stuck in no man’s land as the bunch slows for a “nature break” (pee stop). They are 3mins 20secs behind the frontmen.
150km to go. A fair old cross-tailwind whipping off the eye-pleasing Costa Daurada. At the back of the fast-moving pack, front wheel change for Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), who had a puncture and lost time yesterday.
No ITV coverage this year, by the way. No memorable theme tune, no Gary Imlach in his Fred Perry polo shirt with considered words, no Millar and Boulting providing dynamite comms insight. Feels weird and surely the sport will lose some casual viewers/future champions who were able to use it as a gateway. I know I did as a kid.
158km to go. First crash of the Tour, involving about eight riders, right at the front of the bunch. Perhaps a touch of wheels. Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos) and former green jersey winner Biniam Girmay (NSN) is involved, though all are back and up on their bike. The Eritrean gives a thumbs up to the camera, no harm done.
164km to go. Several riders giving it beans, making early breakaway bids. Get up the road in the escape that sticks and you’ve a good chance of leading the King of the Mountains classification, given the early second-category climb.
Fun fact for you, this is the first time ever that three former Tour winners have worn the three flagship jerseys: Vingegaard in yellow, Pogacar in polka-dots, Egan Bernal in green. (By dint of being fastest through the 5km time check yesterday, even though he ended up losing almost three minutes…)
Stage two rolls out of Tarragona
168.5km to go. The riders get going on the départ fictif, the short stretch of neutralised kilometres they do at leisurely-ish pace daily to get of town centres before race general director Christian Prudhomme drops the flag to signify the start of the race proper.
I think it’s worth answering the obvious question: why is the Tour de France starting in Spain?
Well, the organisers can charge a larger fee for foreign grand départs, the quid pro quo being a boost for tourism and the local economy. I’m not sure Barcelona needs the exposure or visitors – residents are not so happy about that, but anyway…
At least Barcelona is conveniently close to the French border. The same cannot be said for Edinburgh, hosting the 2027 Tour start, but I am sure they will put on a great show.
That also means, oddly, that cycling’s most prestigious race will only have gotten underway in its home nation twice in seven years.
While yesterday’s TTT was predominantly a team effort, it was interesting to see who went up the last climb to Montjuïc fastest once shorn of helpers.
Hardly something to make headlines or draw too much from, but confirms that Pogacar is the man to beat today. Five seconds quicker than Vingegaard too, blimey…
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The 2026 Tour de France has its first abandon. Groupama-FDJ United rider Clément Berthet crashed with teammate Guillaume Martin and he will be a DNS today.
His race lasted 19.4 kilometres. Rotten luck for the Frenchman. At least his squad acquitted themselves well, finishing eighth.
Jonas Vingegaard can be rather understated in character, but the performance yesterday visibly meant a lot to the Dane. A consummate team performance has got the 2022 and 2023 winner off to a flyer.
Relive Visma-Lease a Bike’s TTT victory with Jeremy Whittle’s report.
Preamble
¡Hola! The Tour gets moving today and the finale will be a lively one. Stage two should will be Jekyll and Hyde: comparative pootling along the Mediterranean for the bunch for two hours before several short hills in the final couple of hours, namely the sharp ascent up Montjuïc (1.6km at 9.3%) three times in the last 25 kilometres, finishing at the Olympic Stadium like yesterday.
Pain in Spain guaranteed. Wearing the King of the Mountains jersey, Tadej Pogacar will surely be looking to strike back after his main rival Jonas Vingegaard’s “perfect start” yesterday, emerging in the yellow jersey after Visma-Lease a Bike’s TTT victory.
This is one for puncheurs who can keep up with Pogacar’s expected explosive attacks (easier said than done). Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) will fancy his chances and this also has Tom Pidcock written all over it. You can bet Vingegaard will be adhered to his long-time adversary’s wheel like a yellow Post-It note too.
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I expect a small group sprint of several champions, but it could alternatively be a larger, still-select group sprint of hardy hitters who can keep up over the hills. The likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) have a faint chance, but fast finishers will do well to stay in contention under likely heavy artillery from the defending champion or other contenders.
Temperatures approaching 35 degrees Celsius will not deter big crowds in and around Barcelona and on the fan-packed final hill. There will be agitation as well as perspiration for the peloton. Nerves are always Galibier-high for competitors on the first road stage of the Tour.
There were a few fallers in yesterday’s team time trial (the most painful way to start the race) and there will probably be a crash or three from inattention, but hopefully no Opi-Omi omnishambles relating to fans intruding in the road.
Grab some snacks (maybe some Spanish or Catalan ones if you are feeling fancy/want to be particularly Tour-adjacent) and settle in for the ride. Stage two roll-out is 12:45pm BST, expected finish time is 4:36pm.
Who will win today? Which competitors have already impressed or depressed you? Anyone there on the streets of Barcelona? Drop me thoughts, witterings and Tour hopes here or on [email protected].
