It was sweltering in Bologna as the Tour de France peloton crossed the finish line and were met by soigneurs with cold drinks, ice vests and towels to wipe sweat from their brow after an explosive finale to stage two which saw Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard ignite the race on the slopes of San Luca.
Primož Roglič rolled towards his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team staff, unclipped and stood for a moment, staring into space as he caught his breath in the baking streets. He then unzipped his jersey, wrapped an ice sock around his neck and was quickly ushered away from a scrum of journalists before heading back to the sanctuary of the team’s air-conditioned bus.
The temperatures soared in Emilia Romagna as the peloton surged into the final lap of the inner Bologna circuit to tackle the San Luca one final time. What happened next played out as many predicted; Tadej Pogačar launched a typically explosive attack, with Jonas Vingegaard jumping straight onto his wheel.
After a brief pause, only Remco Evenepoel could follow, with the likes of Roglič and Ineos Grenadiers protected riders losing seconds in the melee. Pogačar now leads the race, with Evenepoel and Vingegaard tied on time with the Slovenian.
Egan Bernal and Tom Pidcock both sit seventh and ninth on GC respectively, 21 seconds back. Speaking post-race, Pidcock remained positive.
"It's not exactly what we’d hoped," he said. "But it was damage limitation in the end. There’s going to be minutes in three weeks. Twenty-one seconds doesn't mean anything."
Coming into the race, question marks hung over Vingegaard’s post-injury form after his brutal spring crash in the Basque Country. The Danish rider put any doubts regarding his physical shape to bed, instantly responding to the Slovenian when the battle kicked off.
"I was not overly surprised, to be honest," Geraint Thomas said when asked for his take on Vingegaard’s form. "We knew he would be good. I expected Tadej to get a gap, so if he didn’t then fair play, hats off to Jonas."
Ineos DS Zak Dempster shared Pidcock’s positivity in his assessment of the day, suggesting that the gap at this stage shouldn’t be given much consideration.
He said: "We couldn't respond. But I think, you know, 21 seconds at this stage isn’t too bad. We’re going to be talking about minutes in the third week…There were a bunch of other guys there that weren't able to hold the wheel either."
Primož Roglič was one of those other guys. The three-time Vuelta a España winner lost the same amount of time, but did not reappear after entering the Red Bull team bus. Roglič’s teammate, Jai Hindley, cooled down outside and told a group of gathered media that the heat had made a significant impact on proceedings.
"It was just full gas cooking out there all day. It was really on and off on the climbs so it was a pretty strange day. Full gas basically both times up San Luca. It was really on the limit.
"We limited our losses as best as we could and really gave it everything. We’re 48 hours into a three week race. There’s plenty of racing to come. It’s not been too bad. It wasn’t a disaster day."
Remco Evenepoel’s effort to bridge across to Vingegaard and Pogačar earned him the white jersey for his troubles.
"I had to do most of the work alone," Evenepoel explained in the mixed zone afterwards. "I think Richard [Carapaz] came through once only so I think it was thanks to me that we came back. But in the end, I think Tadej’s attack was quite explosive, quite impressive.
"In the end I think it's good that I came back to the guys and finished with them and the others arrived 20 seconds behind. It’s better to be in front than behind."
"I think always at the beginning of a race I need to find my explosivity and I think that’s what came out today," he added. "The legs were good, but not super, like I said before, I'm still looking for my best shape and will try to go to 100-105%. I’m happy with today’s effort, but it wasn’t my best day on the bike.
"I didn't lose any time to the two big favourites so that’s the positive thing about today."
