Tour de France stage 2 preview: Can Pogacar claw back time on Vingegaard?

After an important day for the general classification contenders, the peloton faces another early test. This is anything but a gentle opening to the Tour.

Key information:

• Start: 13:55 (CET)
• Estimated Finish: 17:20-17:46 (CET)
• Stage type: hilly
• Stage length: 169.01km
• Elevation gain: 2000m

Follow stage 2 live at Domestique with our live reporting.

The first 88 kilometres are relatively flat, with only a few short kickers to disturb the rhythm. From there, however, the stage becomes far more demanding, with the road constantly rising and falling.

With 81 kilometres to go, the riders face the Côte de Begues, a 6.6 kilometre climb at an average gradient of 5.6 percent. Immediately afterwards, the peloton moves onto rolling terrain. There is little of major significance, although a short, steep descent with 55 kilometres remaining could still add tension.

The riders enter the local circuit with 31 kilometres to go. This loop features the Côte du Château de Montjuïc, a tough 1.8 kilometre climb averaging 8.2 percent. The climb is highly irregular, with a 100 metre section at 12.3 percent near the beginning and a brutal final 400 metres at 13 percent.

The Montjuïc climb appears three times in the final 31 kilometres. The terrain between the ascents is far from straightforward, with heavy rolling roads that will make the finale even harder.

There is also a technical element. The final circuit includes plenty of corners. As in the team time trial, many of them are on wide roads, but they will still add another layer of difficulty at a point in the stage where positioning will be crucial.

The finish is also worth noting. After the final ascent of Montjuïc, a 1.4 kilometre descent takes the riders towards the finishing straight. From there, they face a 600 metre uphill sprint at an average gradient of 6.3 percent. After such a demanding finale, that final drag will hurt.

Key points

• Intermediate sprint - 83km to go
• Côte de Begues | 2nd category - 74.3km to go - 6.6km at 5.6%
• Côte du Château de Montjuïc | 3rd category | thrice in the final circuit - 1.8km at 8.2%

This stage already presents a serious challenge for the general classification riders. The less explosive contenders will need to be alert, especially on the repeated accelerations in the final circuit. Florian Lipowitz showed at the Tour of Slovenia that he has worked on his explosiveness, and that could prove important on a stage like this.

In terms of race scenario, this looks likely to become a GC day. The terrain before the Barcelona circuit appears manageable enough for the peloton to control. Still, there are no guarantees. Similar assumptions were made before the Bologna stage in 2024, and that day proved more selective than expected.

Tadej Pogačar remains the obvious favourite for a hard, punchy stage like this, but after losing time to Jonas Vingegaard on the opening stage, he may be even more motivated to strike back. If the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader decides to go all in, it will be fascinating to see whether Vingegaard can follow, or whether Pogačar can go clear on his own. He also has the team around him to make the race extremely difficult before the finale.

Isaac Del Toro will also be eager to leave his mark. Pogačar remains above him in the team hierarchy, but Del Toro should still have room to ride for his own general classification ambitions and made a good impression in the team time trial. This stage suits him well.

Vingegaard is still sometimes underrated on terrain like this. In 2024, after a Tour preparation of only around a month and a half following his crash, he was still able to follow Pogačar on San Luca when the Slovenian was riding full gas. After gaining time on the opening stage, Vingegaard may also have taken a boost in confidence, and Pogačar will likely try to distance him again. But that will be far from easy.

Vingegaard also has a powerful teammate in Matteo Jorgenson. The American consistently performs well on this kind of terrain, but after sacrificing himself in the first part of the team time trial, he no longer looks like a rider trying to stay in the GC picture. That could actually make him even more interesting as a tactical option. Jorgenson is the type of rider who can launch a clever move in a finale like this, so he should still be watched closely.

On the long climbs, Vingegaard and Pogačar may be in a class of their own. But on a stage like this, Remco Evenepoel could still play a major role. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe will certainly hope so. Florian Lipowitz, despite his clear progress, is less explosive, which will make Evenepoel their main card here.

Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) also finds a stage that suits him well. In the high mountains, he may struggle to match Pogačar and Vingegaard, but on this terrain there could be an opportunity. At Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he was able to follow Pogačar on La Redoute, although he was later dropped on the Roche aux Faucons.

Tom Pidcock is another dangerous name. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider is known for his punch, and last year on the Alto de Pike in the Vuelta he even managed to distance Vingegaard briefly. This season at Milan-Sanremo, he also survived Pogačar’s acceleration. He will be highly motivated to perform here.

Lidl-Trek arrives with a strong duo in Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. Both have the qualities to feature on a stage like this and could even take valuable bonus seconds from close GC rivals.

Lennert Van Eetvelt will hope his run of bad luck is finally behind him. At his best, this is exactly the kind of stage that suits the Lotto-Intermaché rider.

For Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), the stage sits right on the limit of what is possible. He is the only rider in the star rating above 70 kilograms, and he is closer to 80 kilograms than to 70. That says plenty about the difficulty of the parcours. His extraordinary talent still gives him a chance, but this will be a very tough assignment.

Other riders to watch include Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Pogačar

⭐⭐⭐⭐  Vingegaard, Evenepoel

⭐⭐⭐  Seixas, Pidcock, Del Toro

⭐⭐  Ayuso, Jorgenson, Van Eetvelt, Van der Poel

⭐  Grégoire, Tiberi, Carapaz, Skjelmose, Johannessen