August 30, 2020

Tour de France Stage 2 recap: Julian Alaphilippe is the purest form of joy (PLUS previewing Stage 3)

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Julian Alaphilippe won't take anyone by surprise this year. With 13 kilometers to go in an otherwise sleepy 186-kilometer stage, he made the solo move that everyone had been anticipating. 21-year-old Marc Hirschi took his wheel and refused to take a turn at the front. Adam Yates bridged to both riders and was more helpful*, but had his own self-interests, taking the summit of the final hill for an 8-second bonus. (Alaphilippe took 5 seconds, and Hirschi took 2).

The three riders then turned onto the final stretch right into a block headwind, putting them at a severe disadvantage to the hard-charging peloton beind them. Alaphilippe needed to make a perfect calculation to win the stage. Naturally, he did so:

Alaphilippe broke for the line with just more than 100 meters to go. For a moment, it appeared that he went too late; the select peloton hungrily ate away his advantage and would finish just two seconds behind. For another moment, it appeared he had broken too soon; Hirschi, an excellent sprinter, was gaining on Alaphilippe's right shoulder and finished second by half a wheel. In the end, Alaphilippe could not have timed his attack any better. I could watch this finish endlessly.

That dramatic finish capped an otherwise sleepy stage. Two Category 1 climbs didn't do much to affect the general classification riders. For the most part, the peloton was content to let the breakaway stay ahead at arm's reach. That initial break consisted of Peter Sagan, Matteo Trentin, Anthony Perez, Kasper Agreen, Lukas Postlberger, Benoit Cosnefroy, Toms Skujins and Michael Gogl. Trentin edged Sagan to win the first intermediate sprint at the 7k mark, then fell back.

Until the finish, those two Cat 1 peaks were the day's only source of tangible action. Cosnefroy went solo one kilometer from the top of the Col de la Colmiane to become the virtual polka dot jersey wearer. His hopes of remaining the King of the Mountains seemed to disappear as he fell from the breakaway on the Col de Turini, but he clawed back to participate in an animated sprint for the second summit. He took second just behind Perez, which put bother riders at a tie for 18 points in the KoM competition. Cosnefroy finished ahead of Perez on the stage, giving him the polka dot jersey for Stage 3.

Back in the peloton, Jumbo-Visma took over driving responsibilities from UAE-Emirates after it became clear that Alexander Kristoff wasn't going to be able to defend his yellow jersey. The pace began picking up in earnest on Turini's long, difficult descent in preparation for attacks on the Category 2 Col d'Èze with roughly 40 kilometers to go. The breakaway's day ended at the start of the climb, and though no definitive attacks were made on the way up to Èze, Deceuninck-Quick Step made their ambitions for Alaphilippe known by challenging Jumbo-Visma for the front of stage.

With 15 kilometers to go, Jumbo still had three riders at the front with Ineos, Arkea-Samsic and Mitchelton-Scott trains milling just behind. But Bob Jungels and Alaphilippe took over quickly and decisively to begin the move that would see Alaphilippe to the stage win by fractions of a second.

Alaphilippe immediately broke down in tears. His overflowing passion has never waned for a moment, though he has made winning look like a normal day at work. There are few athletes in the world more likable than Loulou.

*It was nice to see Alaphilippe and Yates working together again. They linked up two years ago on a nervous descent finish that Alaphilippe won after Yates crashed.

Was there CARNAGE?!

Thankfully, no! After Stage 1 devolved into a parade of crashes, Stage 2 was blisfully calm, edging on dull. A few people did struggle, however.

• Lotto-Soudal's Philippe Gilbert and Bahrain-McLaren's Rafael Valls were announced as scratches ahead of the day.

• FDJ's David Gaudu was distanced as soon as the stage started. He's an elite climber at just 23 years old, and one of the most important pieces supporting Thibaut Pinot's campaign to win a yellow jersey, but a hard fall on Stage 1 clearly wasn't playing nice with his lower back. Incredibly, he finished the stage, though well behind the winners.

• Somehow, Ineos' Pavel Sivakov survived the stage, too, though he lost another half an hour on the overall.

• Late in the stage, a pair of yellow jersey hopefuls fell hard, but appeared to be OK. Education First's Daniel Martinez -- who won the Critérium du Dauphiné, an important pre-Tour tuneup -- slipped on a left bend with 30 kilometers to go. After a bike change, he linked up with teammate Hugh Carthy and bridged a minute-plus gap to the peloton.

• Then Jumbo-Visma second-in-command Tom Dumoulin got chopped down by an inattentive Michal Kwiatkowski with 12.2 kilometers to go. He got back on to the peloton, but not before animatedly expressing his displeasure at his Ineos rival.

Was there FUN?!

You bet! Stage 2 was highly enjoyable, in part because the action moved slow enough to appreciate everything else that was going on.

Highlights:

The devil wears a mask, and you should too.

Lunch being served at high speed.

This adorable coordinated slingshot boost between rivals.

A LOT of ridiculous camera shots like this.

Lacets? LACETS.

A brief X Games interlude.

And finally, god I love Èze:

Final thoughts?

Non-stop action is great, but it was nice to get a classic slow-paced Tour stage with a clean, hectic finish. Doubly fun when Alaphilippe wins. Nothing on Sunday told us much about the final standings, however. I hate doubting him, but I don't think Alaphilippe's form is good enough to win the overall, magical as he is. Other Tour favorites largely held serve. There were no major cracks today, and they yellow jersey competition remains wide open.

The standings

STAGE 1

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) - 4hr 55min 27sec
2. Marc Hirschi (Sunweb) - "
3. Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) - +1sec
4. Greg van Avermaet (CCC) - +2sec
5. Sergio Higuita (Education First) - "
6. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segadredo) - "
7. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) - "
8. Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) - "
9. Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) - "
10. Alberto Bettiol (Education First) - "

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) — 8hr 41min 35sec
2. Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) — +4sec
3. Marc Hirschi (Sunweb) — +7sec
4. Sergio Higuita (Education First) — +17sec
5. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) — +17sec
6. Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) — +17sec
7. Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) — +17sec
8. Egan Bernal (Ineos) — +17sec
9. Richard Carapaz (Ineos) — +17sec
10. Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) — +17sec

GREEN JERSEY

1. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) — 64 points
2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) — 46
3. Matteo Trentin (CCC) — 36
4. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) — 35
5. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) — 30

POLKA DOT JERSEY

1. Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) — 18 points
2. Anthony Perez (Cofidis) — 18
3. Michael Gogl (NTT) — 12
4. Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) — 6
5. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) — 6

Stage 3 preview - 198km from Nice to Sisteron

Stage 3 will begin at 12:20 p.m. local, 6:20 a.m. ET. For those watching from the United States, coverage will begin at 7:30 a.m. on NBCSN. (Here’s NBC’s complete broadcast schedule).

Don’t get that channel? You’ll need to pay, sadly. I really like the NBC Sports Gold Cycling Pass, which gives you a commercial-free stream as well as some handy race-tracking whatzits. The much cheaper option, however, is Peacock Premium, which costs $4.99 per month and will reportedly get you access to live coverage of every stage, though presumably with ads and without the whatzits.

If you can’t watch live and want access to replays, it appears Gold is your only way to go.

A chance to breathe, maybe?

After two days of chaos and climbing, Stage 3 is set up to be a traditional bunch sprint vs. breakaway day. The weather appears to be clear ... dare I say pleasant.

This stage is mostly a way to shuttle riders towards the Alps. Let's all take a nap.

That said, the profile is hardly "easy." Three Category 3 climbs and a Category 4 will be tough on the bruised and softened legs of the peloton. After the third Cat 3, there could be a scramble by sprint teams to restore order to the peloton. But something tells me that based on the last two days, they won't face much resistance. Here's the profile:

It will be fun to watch newly-unearthed French riders jostle for King of the Mountains points and airtime for their sponsors. But I doubt that breakaway will have the legs to hold off the bunch on a stage that's primarily downhill for the last 80 kilometers.

Who will win? Uhhhhh [/closes eyes, puts finger on sprinter-y substance] Sam Bennett. A non-Wout van Aert Belgian who has won three stages and a one-day race this year. He's as good as any.

The stage supposedly follows the Route Napoleon, which the ex-Emperor traced after escaping exile on Elba. It also goes through Grasse, known for its perfumes, and which I can confirm also has many fine, spicy-scented soaps. If the racing is quiet, expect a lot of commentator babble about these incredible factoids and more.