Here’s Jeremy Whittle’s report from Provins. Thanks for reading and emailing today – congratulations to Marianne Vos and Jumbo-Visma on an incredible stage win – and we’ll see you for more tomorrow.
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Vos, Persico and Niewiadoma is the new top three on GC. Stage report to follow.
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Van Vleuten (Movistar) lost 34secs today and is now 50secs down on the GC.
Vos speaks: “It’s not revenge [for coming second yesterday], it’s just a beautiful day. Actually I can’t describe what happened. We knew we had to be focused, we knew we had to be alert, also on the bell lap, because it got narrow, and the wind played a role. Actually I didn’t expect we would break away, and stay away ... the team brought me perfectly into this bell lap ... Elisa attacked, and apparently it was the moment to go.
“For now it’s definitely the best [of her 241 wins on the road] - it’s incredible. You’re here, you’re trying to be focused, but to take the victory today, it’s beautiful, and I have to thank my team.
“I didn’t feel confident [before the final], not at all. I wanted to try my best and do things right ... it was of course very hard in the final, so everybody probably had sore legs, so I knew I just had to go, and see if it would be enough.”
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Time gaps aplenty as the riders roll to the finish ... here is the top 10 on stage two for starters:
1) Vos 3 hr 14 min 02 secs
2) Persico +0secs
3) Niewiadoma +0secs
4) Longo Borghini +2secs
5) Van der Duin +12secs
6) Wiebes +29secs
7) De Wilde +29secs
8) Barbieri +29secs
9) Kopecky +29secs
10) Confalonieri +29secs
That was a cracking end to the stage. Balsamo was working for Longo Borghini – she did a massive turn on the front and then sat up in the final kilometre. When the road kicked up, Longo Borghini tried to go long, but Niewiadoma managed to keep pace and countered ... once the final right-hander had been negotiated, with Van der Duin trying and failing to go past everyone on the inside, Vos opened up her sprint, and no one could get close on the uphill drag to the line. Persico did the best job of chasing – but Vos was way too strong. Sheer class.
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Marianne Vos wins stage two!
Boom! What a finish. Vos is in yellow.
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700m to go: Balsamo sits up! Longo Borghini goes long, and tries to drop everyone! Niewiadoma counters!
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1.5km to go: Vos nearly loses her back wheel over a speed bump! Balsamo works on the front of the six-rider scrap group. They are preparing for one massive effort to the line ...
3km to go: Vos works on the front of the break. Movistar work on the front of the peloton. How important is this time going to be in the final GC reckoning? The gap holds at 41secs.
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4km to go: The gap for the leaders is holding at around 40secs. Anyone caught behind in the peloton has long since given up on the idea of competing for the stage win. It was a destructive attack by the world champion, Balsamo, that created the initial gap and the six riders up front have been utterly dominant in their wish to compete for the win.
5km to go: Now it’s 40secs for the six riders up front! One of them will be winning this stage. It could be a very happy birthday for Silvia Persico (Valcar - Travel & Service).
Regardless, Vos will be in yellow, unless something strange happens from here.
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7km to go: Flat out at the front, flat out in the peloton, and the gap is growing slightly, it’s out to 34secs now. Demi Vollering (SD Worx) is trying to bridge across to the leaders but she is isolated.
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8km to go: I think, following her earlier revelation that she slept soundly for 10 hours last night, I make Longo Borghini favourite for the win.
9km to go: Vos, Van der Duin, Longo Borghini, Balsamo, Niewiadoma and Persico are the riders up front. They have 31secs ... good luck trying to catch them.
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10km to go: The six up front have 28secs. That is such a strong group and they are holding their lead – I can’t see the peloton getting them back.
12km to go: According to the live tracker, there is a group of 15 riders, including Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Suez Futuroscope), who are 58secs behind the peloton. That’s looking costly ...
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13km to go: The escape group has 24secs. The wind is blowing hard, and some riders are going to be blown out of GC contention as a result.
Alana Castrique of Cofidis, who crashed heavily on yesterday’s stage in Paris, abandoned the race as a result. I think we will see further abandonments today following a couple of very heavy crashes.
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15km to go: Marta Cavalli (FDJ Suez Futuroscope) is pictured rolling through the intermediate sprint. It’s great to see her on her bike, and fingers crossed she didn’t sustain any serious damage in that terrible crash a few minutes ago.
17km to go: It’s a power-packed escape group: Vos, Van der Duin, Longo Borghini, Balsamo, Niewiadoma and Persico.
It’s Persico’s birthday, too. The six-rider group has 20secs, and back down the road, there are massive splits in the peloton! The race has been blown to pieces!
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18km to go: Van der Duin is caught and we have a select group off the front, including Vos and Longo Borghini ...
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20km to go: Laura Süßemilch (Plantur-Pura) looks badly hurt. She doesn’t look likely to get back on her bike. Hoping she is OK.
Here comes the intermediate sprint of the day ... Wiebes, in yellow, wins the race for second place behind the lone escapee, Van der Duin. Kopecky and Vos were on Wiebes’s wheel. (The sprint point was also the start/finish line: the riders will now complete a lap of the finishing circuit, for the final 20km.)
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22km to go: And now there is another crash in the chasing pack. There was road furniture imminent, and a rider went down, and it’s caused a big pile up. Van der Duin has a lead of 45secs up front.
25km to go: Maike van der Duin (Le Col Wahoo) attacks! And she has created a big gap!
And ... oh no. There is a horrible looking crash back in the chasing bunch. A couple of riders went down, one off to the side but a few of them in the middle of the road, and further riders couldn’t stop in time and crash very heavily. Marta Cavalli (FDJ Suez Futurescope) is one of the riders involved ... she is back on her bike though, thankfully.
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26km to go: “Morning from Los Angeles,” emails Nancy. “Curious as to why stage 2 was not shown from the start? The stage started with a video of the start and then picked up the race with 90km to go.”
I’m curious about that too: the presenter Orla Chennaoui did mention on Eurosport that the organisers are not providing live pictures of the full stages. The reason for that wasn’t explained, however.
31km to go: It looks like a bit of a ceasefire in the peloton – but looks can be deceiving. A punishing pace is being set, and the teams looking to set up their riders for the stage win have to be present and correct at the front of the race now.
A nice bit of Tour field art:
Field art @LeTourFemmes #TDFF pic.twitter.com/QSfWPNCMrR
— Luke McLaughlin (@LukeMcLaughlin) July 25, 2022
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34km to go: Lianne Lippert, sporting the German national champion’s jersey that she won last month, is on the front for Team DSM. This is definitely the calm before the storm – not much to report at the moment, aside from the fact that the day’s average speed has now crept above 40km/h.
35km to go: In other news –
“Air-conditioned shops throughout France will have to keep their doors shut or risk a fine of €750 (£635), a French minister has announced, after the mayors of several major cities unveiled a similar rule during the country’s heatwave last week.
“Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the minister for ecological transition, said leaving doors open with air conditioning on led to “20% more energy consumption and … is absurd”. A decree confirming the decision will be issued in the coming days.”
40km to go: Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) had a chat with Eurosport before the stage: “I’m feeling good ... yesterday was really emotional and in the end I was really tired, also because of all the emotions that were going around ... today is another day and it looks less warm that yesterday which is a good thing for me, and pretty windy.
“We have a very strong team that can catch good opportunities during the week ... it will be nice to be in the top 10 [overall], I would like to be among those riders.”
She also says she slept for 10 hours last night.
Plenty of energy to go for the stage win, then?
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43km to go: A recap of the top five in GC after the first stage:
1) Wiebes (Team DSM) 1hr 53min 54secs
2) Vos (Jumbo-Visma) +4secs
3) Kopecky (SD Worx) +6secs
4) Norsgaard-Bjerg (Movistar) +10secs
5) Van der Duin (Le Col-Wahoo) +10secs
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47km to go: It’s still Liv Racing setting the pace at the front. Clearly, they are collectively really up for making an impact on today’s stage. Back in the bunch, Movistar ride in formation, working to protect their GC rider Annemiek van Vleuten, one of the big favourites for the overall race.
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50km to go: A screengrab via Team DSM’s Twitter of that very nervous, windy section further back down the road.
We've already had a couple of small echelons but the bunch is back together, as @pfeiffergeorgi guides us to the front. 👍🏻
— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) July 25, 2022
The gap to the break has almost been closed with 80km to go! #TDFF pic.twitter.com/UHUxt0q5k4
52.5km to go: It’s all settled down in the bunch now. There’s time for some of the riders to take a drink and a bit of food. Will we see further attacks before the finish? It seems highly likely.
There is a big right-hand bend inside the final kilometre in Provins, and it’s uphill, so we are sure to see attacks and a select group fighting for the stage even if there isn’t anothe breakaway. A mass bunch sprint seems unlikely given that the road goes up at the end, but let’s wait and see ...
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57km to go: Still altogether. The speed continues to creep upwards, we’re now nearly at 40km/h for the day. Jumbo-Visma continue to work on the front, too, for Marianne Vos.
Another delightful chateau is captured by the TV camera on the helicopter:
Château de Bombon #ChateauWatch #TDFF pic.twitter.com/Aw83CYeTVa
— Luke McLaughlin (@LukeMcLaughlin) July 25, 2022
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62km to go: Victoire Berteau (Cofidis) now has a problem of some sort and is waving for assistance from her team car. Up front, Liv Racing Xstra are massed at the front and setting a fierce pace. The bunch is strung out in a long line.
65km to go: The route is now narrow and winding and there will be plenty of nervousness in the peloton. Jumbo-Visma, Liv Racing Xstra and Team DSM lead the bunch up an uncategorised climb.
A few minutes ago they rode past the delightful Chateau de Blandy:
#ChateauWatch #TDFF pic.twitter.com/ZB8eGlHr9V
— Luke McLaughlin (@LukeMcLaughlin) July 25, 2022
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69km to go: Franziska Koch leads the way for Team DSM at the front of the peloton, helping to set the fearsome pace this stage is now being raced at. The pack remains together, mainly because the pace is so high and the wind is so strong, no one has the legs to attack even if they wanted to.
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73km to go: The average speed has crept up to nearly 38km/h for the day. A few riders have suffered mechanicals at the back and face a stiff task to chase back on. Sandra Levenez (Cofidis) was in fact involved in a little crash, although she didn’t hit the deck, she’s just had to chase back on. The peloton is all together.
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83km to go: Iris Slappendel, on the Eurosport motorbike, eloquently emphasises how hard the wind is blowing across this flat, rural region of France: “Even for me as a Dutchie, I would say it’s a really strong wind today. It’s going to define the final.”
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78km to go: All back together.
79km to go: This massive acceleration by the peloton is going to mop up the breakaway, who are now just 11secs ahead. The average speed for the day thus far is 35km/h. That looks very likely to rise as this stage develops, it’s looking likely to be flat-out all the way to the finish in Provins.
80km to go: Just 23secs for the break now. Echelons forming at the front of the peloton.
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83km to go: It’s Trek-Segafredo causing a lot of the mischief. Ellen van Dijk and Audrey Cordon-Ragot have done a lot of work trying to test the legs of their rivals in the peloton.
84km to go: It looks very much like certain teams are trying to force splits in the peloton and knock some rivals out of the GC picture by the end of the stage. The gap to the break keeps falling, it’s down to 52”. The peloton is strung out.
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85km to go: A recap of the breakaway riders:
Sabrina Stultiens (Liv Racing Xstra)
Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg)
Rotem Gafinovitz (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss)
Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health)
Increasingly it seems that the wind is going to play a big part today. It’s gusting at up to 26km/h. At the moment it’s a cross headwind.
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86km to go: The peloton is really motoring now (not literally). The gap has plunged to 1’20”. Are they trying to pull this break back now?
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89km to go: The pace has picked up in the bunch as they try to ensure this strong four-rider breakaway doesn’t build too much of a lead. The gap has fallen to 2’07” as a result.
90km to go: Tadej Pogacar with his fiancee, Urska Zigart, who is racing the Tour de France Femmes with Team BikeExchange-Jayco.
👀 Look who came to visit us this morning.
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 25, 2022
👀 Regardez qui est venu nous voir ce matin.
👋 @TamauPogi #TDFF #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/AGdVBHDHyV
Elisa Balsamo (Trek–Segafredo) had a word with Eurosport before the stage to preview the stage: “I’m quite sure that it’s not going to be a bunch sprint. Of course we’ll fight and try to do our best,” Balsamo said.
“I think the wind is going to be an important thing in today’s race. We really have to ride in the front. And also the last kilometres are very nervous, so positioning is important today.”
How is she feeling? “I’m OK. I’m trying to find good feelings after the Giro ... maybe I need some more stages, but I’m OK.”
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94km to go: The gap between break and peloton is 3’01”.
Wiebes had a chat with Eurosport before today’s stage: “I hope it will be another sprint, but there will be wind, so there can be echelons today. We have to see exactly what the wind is like on the road, but for us it’s also fine to go with a smaller group to the finish line.”
How will it feel to wear yellow? “I think it will be really special, but my focus will be on the race ... hopefully I can enjoy it alongside that but we need full focus today because of the wind.
“I hope to wear the jersey for as long as possible.”
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98km to go: Team DSM are doing the bulk of the work at the front of the peloton, controlling the gap to the break for the yellow-jersey wearer, Lorena Wiebes.
“Now we’ll have to work but it’s a pleasure”, Juliette Labous apparently said before the stage (credit to the official website for that snippet).
The gap is 2’40” so it’s manageable.
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99km to go: The breakaway. Game faces on.
100.5km to go: Seems like Eurosport are experiencing a few technical gremlins – the live coverage was due to start at 12.45 UK time, but nothing doing so far.
Anyway, here’s today’s stage profile, which as you can see is largely flat. There is an uphill kick to the finish line which should spice things up.
101km to go: With the climb out of the way, the average speed of the peloton has shot up to 41km/h.
A break of 4 riders currently hold an advantage of ~2 minutes over the peloton. The Polka Dot jersey will remain with @PushingDreamsNL today but will it be on the back of @MarkusFemke or Femke Gerritse?❤️🤍 #TDFF #TDFFdata https://t.co/LtcXunVNZ9
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 25, 2022
116km to go: Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) is the virtual yellow jersey as things stand. The break’s advantage is up to 2’40”.
With Markus and Gerritse both on two QOM points, the destination of the jersey will be decided by the higher position in GC at the end of the stage.
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118.5km to go: Mission accomplished for Gerritse: get in the break, win the race to the top of the only climb of the day. The Parkhotel Valkenburg rider takes two points atop the Côte de Tigeaux, with Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) mopping up the other point on offer. Gerritse and her teammate Femke Markus now both have two points in the QOM competition.
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119.5km to go: Over two minutes advantage for the breakaway now as they hit the climb.
It’s 1.6km in length, with an average gradient of 4.4%.
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121km to go: The break now has 1min 35sec on the chasing bunch. They will contest the Côte de Tigeaux among them. Can Gerritse win the race to the top of the climb?
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126km to go: Have any of our readers stayed at Parkhotel Valkenburg? What’s it like?
I worked on a bike race in Valkenburg circa 2017, and it was a lovely spot, from what I remember.
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127km to go: Sabrina Stultiens (Liv Racing Xstra), Femke Gerritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Rotem Gafinovitz (Roland Cogeas Edelweiss) and Marit Raaijmakers (Human Powered Health) are the four early attackers.
Meanwhile, here’s a preview of the approach to today’s finish, via Felix Mattis on Twitter:
The final corner in Provins with 300m to go is more of a long bend going uphill - not really technical. You can only see the finish line with 75m to go, though.
— Felix Mattis (@felixmattis) July 25, 2022
(The run-in between 4km and 1km to go is more technical with tighter corners!)#TDFF pic.twitter.com/f7FDOTmoF8
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130km to go: The attacking has begun. Four riders are trying to break away at the front, presumably with designs on the Cat-4 climb, the Côte de Tigeaux.
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The neutralised zone successfully negotiated, the flag has dropped, and the stage proper is under way. The weather is a pleasant 24C – much more sensible than the 40C-plus temperatures the riders endured for much of the men’s race.
We’re rolling on stage two.
🚩 ...go !
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 25, 2022
🚩 ...c'est parti ! #TDF2022 #WatchTheFemmes pic.twitter.com/jmWot7GLkK
I’m not entirely sure why the start of this stage isn’t live on Eurosport? C’est la vie.
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Tadej Pogacar is on the scene.
Tadej Pogačar at the start of the #TDFF stage 2. pic.twitter.com/kDmqlPGVN5
— Sadhbh O'Shea (@SadhbhOS) July 25, 2022
After an incredible solo ride yesterday, single-handedly keeping the peloton at bay on the streets of Paris, Gladys Verhulst (Le Col-Wahoo) was awarded the prix de la combativité and consequently is sporting red bib today.
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Some of the best images from the Tour de France:
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The peloton is due to roll out at 12.50 French time / 11.50 UK time. However, Eurosport’s live coverage doesn’t begin until 12.45 UK, meaning we’ll miss the scrap for the intermediate sprint (after 16.9km). I’ll bring you as many updates as I can via the live tracker and anything on social media until the live coverage kicks in.
A couple of bits of fresh reading from the men’s race here:
“I was expecting it to be harder,” Kasia Niewiadoma told Eurosport in Paris yesterday. “I feel like everyone just wanted to feel safe and cautious. There was nothing crazy happening. It was a nice first stage for sure. Maybe I expected like a chaotic race, and hectic, like everyone constantly fighting for position.”
Who do you like for the stage win today?
You can quite literally email me or tweet with your thoughts.
Jeremy Whittle’s Tour de France stage one report is here:
Preamble
On the long, straight sprint to the finish line in Paris yesterday, Lorena Wiebes accelerated past Marianne Vos to win stage one and claim the yellow jersey. Today, the race shifts east of the French capital for a largely flat 136.4km trip from Meaux to Provins.
Again there is one designated climb, the category-four Côte de Tigeaux: the fact it arrives within the first 17km should ensure a frantic start by riders and teams with designs on the QOM competition. Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg) starts in polka-dots after winning Sunday’s ‘climb’ on the iconic Champs-Élysées.
The day’s solitary intermediate sprint comes at Provins after 116km. By virtue of hoovering up 70 points in the green jersey competition, Team DSM’s Wiebes also leads that, but second-placed Lotte Kopecky will be in green today with Wiebes in the maillot jaune.
The racing was fast and high-quality in Paris although as Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon–SRAM) said afterwards, perhaps not as full-gas as we may have expected. Will that change today?
Stage start: 11.50am UK time
