The Tour de France resumed for Stage 2 today after Yves Lampaert claimed the first Yellow Jersey in the opening time trial in Copenhagen. On a rain soaked circuit yesterday, the Belgian raced to a surprise win beating out defending champion Tadej Pogacar as well as compatriot Wout van Aert after taking a seriously impresssive time of 15 minutes and 17 seconds to complete the 13km course.
Despite the build-up beforehand the wind hardly played a part in a rather sedate Stage 2. A long trek along the Danish coastline started in the town of Roskilde and saw an early breakaway led by Magnus Cort Nielsen as the peloton hit the countryside. This foursome, also featuring Pierre Rolland, Cyril Barthe and Sven Erik Bystrom, stormed out in front and reached the first of three category-four climbs. Nielsen and Bystrom fended off a challenge from the others and raced to the line with Nielsen taking the victory and the first of his three King of the Mountains points. He added two more at the next hills to end the day with the polka-dot jersey and the title.
There was an early preview to the sprint finish as an intermediate sprint 75km from the end was won by Caleb Ewan but the Austrian didn’t feature in the climactic battle. The Great Belt Bridge lived up to it’s majesty but failed to provide the expected drama although Yellow Jersey holder Yves Lampaert crashed on the bridge and had to recover his position. He did, and led the way around the final corner as part of the lead train for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl teammate Fabio Jakobsen.
The stage concluded with a sprint to the line. Mads Pedersen set off with 400m to go and was hauled in by Wout van Aert but Jakobsen managed to win a battle against Peter Sagan to nip around the outside and claim the victory.
Relive all the action from Stage 2 of the Tour de France:
