Key events
182km to go. The weather is grey but the vibes are high on the roadside, there’s a brass band playing as the peloton passes through another commune.
190km to go. The peloton is cruising along at around 50km/h, not top speed but a fair lick. On ITV the action is so hot that the broadcast is just playing the Carpenters’ ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ over the top of the live pictures, quite why isn’t clear. On the road, Movistar’s Nelson Oliveira has come off the back for a backwheel tyre change and is now trying to work his way back into the peloton.
199km to go. The four-man breakaway has settled in and pulled out a lead which is now more than two minutes. Yevgeni Fedorov (XDS-Astana), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Brent Van Moer (Lotto) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) are the brave men who will try to take this lead to finish.
206km to go. We have racing, in what looks like truly awful conditions. There are four brave souls who are making an early bid to form the break. Once I’ve figured out who they are I will let you know.
The ceremonial rollout is winding its way out of Lauwin-Planque and we are aproaching the flag drop in about 1km. Some of the riders were a bit late arriving at the start line due to traffic on the narrow streets of the commune that is home to just 1,600 people so we’re a bit behind schedule. A lot of the riders are in their rain gear, which provides a bit more protection for them but makes my job a little harder as they’re all in black jackets tough over their typical jerseys. Kilometre zero incoming.
Preamble
Settle in folks, this is going to be a long one. The total length of the stage is a mammoth 209.1km, with a few categorised climbs that will probably weed out the pure sprinters but nothing too punishing. The good news is the finale will be worth the wait. The read on the stage profile is that the stage will explode in the final 35km, where there are a couple steep lumps and a bit of an incline towards a finish line, which runs along the banks of the river Liane in the streets of Boulogne. This will be one for the puncheurs and an early opportunity for the likes of Mathieu van der Poel or Wout van Aert to bag a stage and the yellow jersey. Just to cover my own back, I should point out that Tadej Pogacar is as capable of winning this stage as any other but will he want to show his hand this early? Frankly, trying to predict what the Slovenian will do is a fool’s game, so I will refrain from doing that.
What is easier to predict is that the weather will definitely be a factor. In typical northern French fashion, rain and crosswinds are going to batter a peloton that will be full of riders wary of being on the wrong side of any split. Tension can lead to mistakes and hopefully we won’t see a repeat of the crashes that marred stage one.
Grab your snacks, get yourself a drink and follow along. I will have you covered through to the end of the stage. If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, do send them in via the link at the top of the page.
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