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2013 Tour de France – Stage 2 live updates, blog

30th June, 2013
2013 Tour De France - Stage 2

Bastia to Ajaccio

A nasty stage through the middle of Corsica, with two category-two climbs and rich potential to shake up the overall standings. The main players will need to be on their toes.

Start: 10.00pm AEST
Distance: 156km
TV: SBS (LIVE from 10.00pm AEST)
2013 Tour de France (Image: Chungkong)
Expert
30th June, 2013
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Yesterday’s dramatic and chaotic opening stage of the 2013 Tour de France provided a heart-stopping beginning to the greatest cycling show on earth. Join us for live updates from 10.00pm AEST.

Under any other circumstances, that may seem like a gross over exaggeration, however, this is not the case when you’re talking about the most well known of the three Grand Tours.

From Orica-GreenEdge’s bus getting stuck on the finish line, to poor Johnny Hoogerland getting tangled in the bunting to the numerous crashes heading into the finish line, it was a nail biting stage.

Speaking of Johnny Hoogerland, you do have to ask if the poor bloke can take a trick in the Tour de France.

All of the big name sprinters went down with the exception of Germany’s Marcel Kittel, who won the stage.

Even a few of the GC lads met with the bitumen, including Alberto Contador, who I’m hoping will win the race.

Today’s stage will be a very different race to yesterday’s chaos.

The sprinters will have the chance to spend the 156-kilometre stage from Bastia to Ajaccio nursing their wounds, as those who love to climb will have some fun on the day’s four categorised climbs.

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There will be a sprint at the thirty three kilometre mark, then the peloton will head toward the category three climb, the Col de Bellagranajo.

This Cat Three climb is a climb of 6.6 kilometres and has a gradient of 4.6 percent. Around 15km further down the road the boys will find themselves pushing up the Cat Two Col de la Serra.

This is steeper and longer at 5.2 kilometres with a gradient of 6.9 percent.

There will be no rest for the wicked though, with the second Cat Two climb just up ahead.

Riders will face the 4.6 km Col de Vizzavona with its gradient of 6.5 percent at around the 95km mark of the stage.

The climbs don’t finish here though, with a final Cat Three climb twelve kilometres from the finish.

It is a short one-kilometre climb but its gradient of 8.9 percent at the end of what is looking like a hard day in the saddle will test riders, especially those nursing wounds from yesterday.

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The ride from here to the finish isn’t exactly flat with a few more lumps for the riders to contend with.

Today is a day that once again could cause carnage, although for different reasons to yesterday’s stage. Any GC contender will need to be on their toes as time lost early on may prove very difficult to make up.

Join me from 10.00pm AEST for tonight’s live blog of Stage 2 of the Tour de France.

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