Latest Stage 2 Updates Today

Riders climb through the crowd during the second stage of the Tour de France (AP)

The second stage of the Tour de France 2023 sees the riders start just east of Bilbao in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and take the longest route of this year (209 km) until the finish in San Sebastian.

The yellow jersey will start the day on Britain’s shoulders after Adam Yates sensationally beat his twin brother Simon to the line in Bilbao on the opening leg. Whether he keeps it will depend on whether a breakaway forms and stays clear of the finish line – if so, any number of fringe riders could win the day, but they will need climbing legs to overcome the grueling final ascent, the Jaizkibel – a draining 8.1km climb at an average gradient of 5.3%.

Two-time champion Tadej Pogacar would like to see teammate Adam Yates keep yellow, while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard won’t mind if he changes hands to another team, but they’ll be more focused on one another. another and on another potential duel. the last climb.

Follow all the latest Stage 2 updates below:

Second stage of the Tour de France

121km to go – More mountain points for Powless
127 km to go – Powless wins the first mountain points of the second stage
165 km to go – Boasson Hagen takes maximum sprint points
Adam Yates took the yellow jersey after the first stage victory over his twin brother, Simon
The second stage sees the riders covering 209 km from Vitoria-Gasteiz to San Sebastian
The Tour de France 2023 has started with the Grand Départ in Bilbao

90km to go – UAE Emirates still leading the pack

14:11 , Ben Fleming

The race is turning by the minute as the leaders maintain a lead of around three minutes and 30 seconds as they complete a rather sharp uncategorized climb.

Back in the peloton, it’s still the United Arab Emirates who do most of the work up front. They largely sat out yesterday – coming to the fore later – but, with the yellow jersey from day one, they may feel they need to have more control when deciding whether to chase the group away. escaped later.

104km to cover – halfway

13:50 , Ben Fleming

The lead of the leading trio has still exceeded four minutes as we reach the halfway point of the second stage. An encore that is part of this breakaway group – Neilson Powles (EF Education-EasyPost) alongside Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) and Remi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step).

121km to go – More mountain points for Powless

13:31 , Ben Fleming

After a short descent, the leaders have another climb soon after. The Aztiria Coast is only a category four, so just the only point on offer, but Powless climbs through a busy section of road – lined with cheering fans on both sides – to catch it.

Note that these two climbs reduced the gap between the leading trio and the peloton. It lasted about five minutes at one point, but now sits at about three and a half minutes.

127 km to go – Powless wins the first mountain points of the second stage

13:21 , Ben Fleming

The American already has the polka dot jersey from the first stage and he extends his lead with a few more points after the category three climb of the Col d’Udana.

Edvald Boasson Hagen and Remi Cavagna are alongside him in the top three but neither are vying for points and Powless lets out a small punch as he reaches the top of the climb.

135 km to cover – the gap increases to five minutes

13:09 , Ben Fleming

More rain in the air as the lead increases to five minutes for the leading trio who now tackle the first categorized climb of the day.

Lawrence Ostlere reports from San Sebastián

12:54 , Ben Fleming

Before that climb, it’s a great time to check in with The Independents Lawrence Ostlere, who sends this report of the end point of today’s stage:

I have just arrived in a very humid San Sebastián, where a heavy downpour has just soaked the finish of this second stage.

It looks nice and sunny where the riders are at the moment, crossing the Basque Country, but after another 100km they will face today’s test final and the wet conditions could be a big factor in deciding who wins the race – especially on the fast descent of the Jaizkibel climb.

Avoiding the incident will be on the agenda for many.

150 km to go – category three climb to come

12:48 , Ben Fleming

There is a nice descent now before the first categorized climb of the day – the Col d’Udana. Powles in breakaway three will aim for more mountain points to extend his lead in the King of the Mountains standings.

The breakaway lead has stabilized at around 4:30 minutes, but it’s still healthy and bigger than what we had at any time yesterday.

165 km to go – Boasson Hagen takes maximum sprint points

12:30 , Ben Fleming

The TotalEnergies rider takes maximum points in the intermediate sprint after 40km as part of the breakaway group but there is more intrigue in the peloton for the remaining points.

Jayco-Alula was near the front of the pack trying to provide a platform for Dylan Groenewegan but he fell apart and in the end it was DSM-Firmenich’s Sam Welsford who seemed to have taken fourth place behind the top three in the sprint.

Or does he? Well, it looks like it was actually Jasper Philipsen who took fourth place for Alpecin-Deceuninck. And a photo finish confirms it, the Belgian has just overtaken Welsford to take 13 points.

170km to go – rain in the air

12:18 , Ben Fleming

A few signs that there might be some rain today which would definitely add a different element to the action.

The United Arab Emirates control the peloton with Jayco-Alula riders right behind them. Certainly not a fast pace set so far and the breakaway group were allowed to extend their lead to around four and a half minutes.

185km – the breakaway lengthens the gap

12:01 , Ben Fleming

The three fronts now lead by more than 3 minutes as the peloton seems to have split into two further back.

Yesterday the peloton was quite happy to let the breakaway group go knowing they could be caught later. The first signs look the same today.

195 km to go – a trio of breakaways form

11:48 , Ben Fleming

Now we have a break that lasts. There are just three riders this time around, but it includes current King of the Mountain Neilson Powles (EF Education-EasyPost) alongside Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies) and Remi Cavagna (Soudal-Quick Step).

They now have a lead of about a minute.

200km to cover – lively start

11:41 , Ben Fleming

As soon as the flag is waved, there are immediate attacks. Victor Campanaerts tries his luck but no gap appears. A larger group is starting to emerge, including Pascal Eekhoorn, who was part of this breakaway of five yesterday.

Sprinter Mads Pedersen joins the group who briefly pull away from the peloton but they are soon engulfed in the peloton as Jumbo-Vismo closes the break.

Here we go !

11:35 , Ben Fleming

A little late as Stan Dewulf returns to the peloton after an early puncture but the yellow flag is waved and we are off again!

Two big withdrawals after the first leg

11:34 , Ben Fleming

It should be noted that today’s stage will start without two riders – Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) – after the pair were involved in a crash yesterday.

Mas didn’t finish the race yesterday and immediately retired. Carapaz, meanwhile, managed to finish the stage but retired this morning following a broken left kneecap.

Both were key riders for their teams and were looking to get into the top ten overall, so this is a blow to both teams.

Jumbo’s Death Star, Pidcock’s Dog and Basque Pride: Behind the Scenes of the Tour de France Grand Départ

11:25 , Ben Fleming

Lawrence Ostlere has been the man on the ground in the Basque country since The Independent. He’ll have updates throughout the day, but yesterday he went behind the scenes to take a look at all the action from the Grand Depart in Bilbao.

Click below to read it in full:

Jumbo’s Death Star and Pidcock’s Dog: In the Grand Départ of the Tour de France

Overview of the second stage

11:20 , Ben Fleming

The 2023 Tour de France continues with another hilly day in the Basque Country as the peloton travels from Vitoria-Gasteiz to the picturesque town of San Sebastian, finishing on the seafront.

It will be a trying day for two reasons: firstly, it is the longest stage of this year’s Tour at 209km; and because the last hill – the Jaizkibel – is an 8.1 km drain at an average gradient of 5.3%.

The Jaizkibel is a famous climb in these regions and often the decisive point of the Clasica de San Sebastian race. This year’s Tour riders who have won the Clasica include double world champion Julian Alaphilippe, American Neilson Powless, Ineos’ Michal Kwiatkowski and the man in the yellow jersey, Adam Yates.

For the full preview of stage two, click below:

Preview of stage 2: the longest route of the Tour de France with a difficult final climb

Summary of the first stage

11:15 , Ben Fleming

Adam Yates beat his twin brother Simon to victory on the opening stage of the Tour de France to take the yellow jersey in Bilbao.

The duo, riding for rival teams, broke free from a tight group at the top of the Côte de Brochet towards the end of the lumpy 182km opening stage and pulled out a gap on the descent to the city.

After opening a 20 second gap on a chasing group, the brothers knew the fight was between them on the uphill sprint to the finish line and it was Adam who had the power to pull away at the very end, winning by four seconds to take yellow for the second time in his career.

If you missed yesterday’s action, check out the full recap:

Adam Yates beats twin brother Simon to win opening stage and wear yellow jersey

Happy to see you again

11:11 , Ben Fleming

After a dramatic and historic finish of the first stage of this year’s Tour de France, we are back for the second stage in the Basque Country.

Tour de France 2023 LIVE

09:09 , Laurent Ostlere

Latest build-ups and updates from Stage 2 of the Tour de France.