![Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard cycle up the San Luca ascent](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383968466_17197775536480_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Tadej Pogacar claims yellow jersey but day two belongs to Jonas Vingegaard at Tour de France
![Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard cycle up the San Luca ascent](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383968466_17197775536480_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
So it took Tadej Pogacar just two days to claim the yellow leader’s jersey at this year’s Tour de France. With a searing attack over the top of the final climb into Bologna on Sunday, the big pre-race favourite opened up a 30-second gap over the rest of the GC group as if they were standing still.
The Slovenian is clearly in wonderful form. But at the end of another blisteringly hot day in Italy, the inescapable feeling was that the day had belonged not to him, but to his great rival Jonas Vingegaard.
Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike), who has beaten Pogacar to the last two Tour titles, arrived at this race with doubts swirling about him. It had, after all, been less than three months since he suffered a collapsed lung and broken ribs and a fractured collarbone in a crash in the Tour of the Basque Country.
The Dane only rode outside for the first time since that crash 54 days ago. Competing for a third Tour title this year seemed unlikely. All the talk was that Pogacar might “whack him” in the first week.
Yet when Pogacar launched his attack on the second ascent of the vertiginous Cote de San Luca, a not insignificant 1.9km climb at an average of over 10 per cent, Vingegaard was the only rider capable of staying with him. In fact, the 27-year-old seemed to do so with ease.
The duo then worked together on the 13km run-in to Bologna, with only Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education First) managing to bridge across to them by the finish, with Evenepoel doing all the work.
That group eventually finished in a group 2min 21sec down on stage two winner, Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B Hotels), who produced a sensational ride to win from the day’s breakaway, which had earlier been allowed to go nine minutes up the road.
![Kevin Vauquelin crosses the finish line](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383951056_17197615950900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqzK1L7X56n2Q6QfBGpXNSfv7Pg1T7-GR5fkVqcGmNk2U.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Pogacar, who almost sat up by the finish, allowing Carapaz, Evenepoel and Vingegaard to go past him, seemed almost nonplussed at the finish. He asked Evenepoel while warming down whether the Belgian had taken the yellow jersey, and seemed almost surprised it had gone to him.
Whether he had tried to engineer that outcome, whether he was disappointed to have expended his energy for little reward in the end (his group only ended up taking 21 seconds on the rest of the GC favourites, which included Ineos’ Carlos Rodriguez, Tom Pidcock, and Egan Bernal), whether he was annoyed to have taken the yellow jersey this early, or whether he was completely relaxed about the whole thing, it was unclear.
“It was a so-so day,” said Pogacar, who added that he had felt “super good” on the final finishing circuit and so had instructed his team to go hard on the final climb. “Vingegaard was really quickly on my wheel,” he added. “I’m not surprised by his level.”
![Tadej Pogacar celebrates at podium](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383954859_17197629322230_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqA7N2CxnJWnYI3tCbVBgu9T0aesusvN1TE7a0ddd_esI.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Whether Vingegaard will pay for his efforts later in the race, without the race preparation that Pogacar has had, only time will tell. Perhaps Pogacar, on his second grand tour in a row, will be the one who fades in week three. Either way, this felt like a significant day for Vingegaard, a conclusion with which he was in agreement.
“Today was a really good day for me,” he said. “I expected to lose some time to Pogacar, so to be able to follow him feels like a win.”
It was a good day for Britain’s Mark Cavendish, too. After vomiting due to heatstroke on stage one, the 39-year-old looked a lot more comfortable on stage two. Monday’s long flat ride to Turin should afford Cavendish the first opportunity to try to win that elusive 35th stage which would lift him clear of Eddy Merckx and into top spot in the Tour stage winners’ list, a title he has delayed his retirement in an effort to secure.
Stage two: As it happened
Pogacar tested Vingegaard today and he got his answer
Fascinating finish and body language from Pogacar. Looked a bit nonplussed at the end. Was he trying to lose yellow? Annoyed at Vingegaard for not working with him to hold Remco off? Annoyed with himself for using energy up for a few seconds on GC group? Or was I imagining it? Either way, he tested Vingegaard today and he got his answer.
34km to go
The lead group is reaching the bottom of the Côte de San Luca (1.9km at 10.6%). How they perform here will be a huge decider towards if they can make the finish line before the peloton.
With their lead just above four minutes, it will take something extraordinary for them not to be caught.
45km to go
In the last quarter of the stage, the breakaway has a six minute lead on the peloton. There are three groups that have formed behind the peloton:
- A group of riders, including Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who have recently been dropped, a minute behind.
- Another group, a further two and a half minute behind, including Cavendish and his Astana Qazaqstan teammates.
- A final group another minute behind, consisting of Fabio Jakobsen, flanked by two DSM-Firmenich PostNL teammates.
85km to go
Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) falls down on the road. He gets up and keeps cycling but seems to be in pain, and to be struggling with his spare bike.
Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) also falls down. Despite riding at 56 km/h when he crashed, he seems in ok condition and carries on.
![Laurens De Plus riding after his crash](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383936127_17197542248830_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=350)
91km to go
No riders in the breakaway were particularly interested in taking points for the green jersey. They all roll over the line, without anybody really going for it.
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) crosses the line first, speeding up at the last minute, and therefore takes 20 sprinting points.
The last hour will sort the wheat from the chaff
Just arrived in Bologna. Press cars were allowed to do a lap of the finish circuit and I can assure you the Cote de San Luca - which the riders will do twice - is punchy; 1.9km at 10.6% average gradient does not sound like much but it starts hard and there are ramps of 19% (on the inside of one bend). It is going to sort the wheat from the chaff. The second time up it offers time bonuses, too, so the GC guys will be on red alert. After the second time up, there’s roughly 13km to the finish. Feels like Roglic and Pogacar etc will be gunning for the bonuses (and will try to put Vingegaard under pressure). You’d imagine there will be a select group sprinting it out at the finish. Should be a cracking last hour.
151km to go
The streets are lined with fans today, in particular cheering the name of the Italian champion - Alberto Bettigol (EF Education-EasyPost).
![A spectator waves the Italian flag as the riders pass by](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383923174_17197474138370_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqnj5f55R6XEVcLbfHVgP9-jqO6yA5cMYn47d1pC-Rhb0.jpeg?imwidth=350)
![A spectator waves a flag as riders of the breakaway group](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383924780_17197488039730_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqek9vKm18v_rkIPH9w2GMNpPHkRvugymKLtqq96r_VP8.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Fuelled on Haribos
I’m on the road from Cesanatico to Bologna. There’s a fair bit of traffic around Imola, where I was for the F1 last month. I imagine the peloton will be moving a lot quicker than we are right now. Who will take the chequered flag today? Pidcock perhaps? Remco? Van der Poel? The Dutchman got a big cheer when he left his bus to go to sign-on this morning.
Also passed Mark Cavendish on his way to sign-on and he looked pretty fresh. Will be interesting to see how he copes today given it’s another scorcher. Car temp gauge says it’s 34C. Wonder whether Astana’s hot weather protocols are as sophisticated as other teams?
My fuelling strategy today mainly based on Haribo from the Tour village.
![Sweets in the Tour village](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383925686_17197492635540_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqyuLFFzXshuGqnr8zPdDWXhbQKbwj1ZsnNMhuR7O6ySI.jpeg?imwidth=350)
177km to go
List of riders in the leading breakaway:
Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Mike Teunissen (Intermarché-Wanty), Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies), Bram Welten (DSM-Firmenich PostNL).
They currently have three minutes, 45 seconds on the peloton.
Van Den Broek most combative
Alongside leading in both the green and the white jerseys, Frank Van Den Broek (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) will also wear a distinctive number, for being recognised as the most combative rider of yesterday’s stage.
![Van Den Broek (left) crossing the line with Bardet yesterday](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383838486_17197437944420_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqjJeHvIwLm2xPr27m7LF8mUYMapKPjdhyLnv9ax6_too.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Channeling Pantani
Today’s stage departs from the home town of cycling legend Marco Pantani, as well as riding over the roads on which he used to train.
Notably, Pantani is the last Giro-Tour double winner, having completed the feat in 1998. Pogacar has made no secret of the fact he is aiming to equal Pantani’s double this year, and could look to try to put time into his General Classification opponents today.
![Cycling legend, Pantani, racing in 2000](/https/www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2024/06/30/TELEMMGLPICT000383833633_17197434479010_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqkyrNkuNts8z1o5MEns8nsXepr6FvjMRprqxb3P43gA8.jpeg?imwidth=350)
Who is wearing the jerseys today?
After his emphatic victory yesterday, Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) will wear the yellow, while his teammate Frank Van Den Broek will wear the green.
Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) will sport the polka dot jersey, while Maxim Van Gils (Lotto Dstny) will wear the white. Van Gils sits second in the young riders classification, however, since the leader - Van Den Broek - is wearing green, Van Gils takes the white today.
Stage two: Cesenatico - Bologne
After an exciting opening stage, which saw Romain Bardet (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Frank Van Den Broek (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) pip the peloton to the finish line, a mid-stage vomit from Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), and big names such as David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) dropped, we’re back in action for the second stage of the 2024 Tour de France.
Stage two presents us with a flat start in Cesenatico, followed by rolling hills over the 200km stage, taking the riders through to Bologna.
On the way the riders head to the Imola motor racing circuit, and over the same roads where Julian Alaphilippe won the World Championships in 2020.
The riders will still be feeling the toils they faced in yesterday’s stage, which was the hilliest opening stage the Tour de France has ever seen and included 3600m of climbing as well as extreme heats.
Astana Qazaqstan were one of the teams who fell victim to the tough profile of the opener to the greatest extent. Michele Gazzoli (Astana Qazaqstan) was forced to withdraw in the first stage of his debut Tour due to the heat, while Cavendish – the man they have built their team around – threw up mid-race as a result of the high temperatures.
There were some worries that Cavendish wouldn’t make the time cut-off but he made it safely within the designated time, saying: “That was so hard. So hard. But we had a plan and we stuck to it. Okay, it didn’t go exactly as we wanted. We would have liked to have done one more climb with the peloton. But the start was so hot. But we made it around ok.”
Many predicted an attack from race favourite Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in the opener, in order to test Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), but he chose to ride within the peloton throughout. Today may be the stage where he makes his move in an attempt to pick up the jersey. It was in the second stage, after all, that he took the leaders jersey in the Giro earlier this year, and held onto it throughout.
Alongside Pogacar, a few others that may be vying for a stage victory today are: Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers).