Stage 2 – Sunday 30 August
Nice to Nice (190 km)
Medium mountain stage
We are a whole day into the 2020 Tour de France, and the route planners have been quite unkind: two Cat 1 climbs, and a Cat 2, should sort out the GC into a skinnier ranking, after the sprinters had their say yesterday.
REMEMBER THIS? Key moments from the 2019 Tour de France
What a day it was, as torrential rain and greasy roads saw carnage and camaraderie within the peloton, as the riders called a truce for the most treacherous of the descents (except Astana, who missed the memo and gave us all a great look at how karma works by crashing their team leader three corners later). Team UAE’s Alexander Kristoff won from a nervous field sprint – 88 riders hit the deck on the day, some of them more than once – but is unlikely to even try to keep the Yellow Jersey today. The climbs come early, and are proper, but that won’t stop a break forming, and quite possibly staying away.
The GC hopefuls will take any chance to weed out their weaker opposition, but probably wont’s risk anything today. the finish is just too far from the top of the second Cat 1. Our pick? Peter Sagan to drive the early move; with the opportunity for a stage win, a Yellow Jersey and great points in the chase for Green, he will find the extra watts and motivation to suffer the first few climbs, knowing the finish suits his power and that the fast men will be in the grupetto, far, far behind.
