Julian Alaphilippe a French national peddled 186km to the finish line ahead of other cyclists winning the second stage of the Tour de France. He took the overall leader’s yellow jersey on Sunday.
The tough race which begun in a low key saw Norwegian national scoop the first stage on Saturday and simultaneously walking to the podium and taking the yellow jersey but has not been able to defend it through the second stage on Sunday.
In the Second stage of the tour which is strictly under the observance of anti Covid-19 measures saw Swiss Marc Hirschi taking the second place with Briton Adam Yates coming home third on Sunday.
Almost 176 cyclists are taking part in this prestigious cycling race that is closely followed by cycling enthusiasts from over 190 countries.
In Sunday’s Stage 2, riders thankfully raced under bright, clear skies, but the crashes continued in a stage with the fourth-most climbing (4,000 meters) of the entire 2020 Tour.
Two examples: Jumbo-Visma’s Tom Dumoulin got chopped by an Ineos Grenadiers rider on a climb, and EF Pro Cycling’s dark horse Dani Martinez slid out on a tight corner on the penultimate descent.
Dumoulin remounted quickly and lost no time.
Martinez, after a furious chase to re-catch the peloton, was then dropped on the final climb and finished 3:38 down.
It’s a bruised and banged-up peloton that will leave Nice, France, on Monday morning, but they won’t get much respite.
In this weird, wild Tour de France, the predictable (Julian Alaphilippe’s Stage 2 win) only underscores that so much is unpredictable (Lotto-Soudal, down to just six riders, is dead-last in the teams competition).
source https://taarifa.rw/french-cyclist-wins-2nd-stage-of-tour-de-france/
