Stage 2 of the Criterium du Dauphine will provide the riders with the first uphill road finish of the race, climaxing at the peak of Chalmazel – Jeansagnière 167.5km after setting off. Join The Roar from 11pm (AEST) for all the live highlights and racing action.
Starting the day’s ride at the small French town of Crêches-sur-Saône, boasting a population of just over 2000, the riders will be met with what could best be described as a rolling stage.
Four category climbs make up the bulk of the stage, with an undulating middle sector comprising of short, sharp rises and steep, concise descents to keep the riders busy.
Nacer Bouhanni took out the stage victory last night for team Cofidis in a physical sprint to finish, but it’s the Spaniard Alberto Contador that holds the lead, albeit a teetering six second lead.
Australian Richie Porte sits waiting in second in the General Classification Standings, after his battle with Contador in the Prologue left him with the aforementioned six second gap.
With just two days of riding in the bag, there’s still plenty of fresh legs to tackle the litany of climbs in Stage 2.
There’s plenty of room for attacks in the first half of the trek, but it’s the base of the third major climb, a category 2, that should lend it’s hand to a possible winning breakaway.
The penultimate climb that begins with 22km to go is the longest of the four categorised, and is immediately stacked on top of by the final ascent to the finish, a category 3 rise into Crêches-sur-Saône.
Teams Sky, who are nurturing Chris Froome in third place, and Tinkoff will have to be careful on a stage like this not to lose control of the peloton.
With so much opportunity for early breakaways, the two big teams in the Dauphine will have to keep an eye on the pack to keep their riders in ideal position.
Prediction
There’s such a tight battle at the top already, and after just a couple of stages it’s tough to pick who can break and who can hold.
Might be a little Aussie bias here but Richie Porte is looking strong for this one. If he latches onto a breakaway or keeps his head at the front of the pack, he has enough punch on the final sprints to have a real shot at taking the lead today.
Follow all the live highlights and cycling action on The Roar from 11pm (AEST).
Connor Bennett
Editor
Thanks to all you night owls that stuck around for the blog, we had an interesting stage with ultimately zip changes to the GC standings. Make sure to join The Roar for tomorrow's Stage 3 coverage
Connor Bennett
Editor
General Classification Standings after stage 2: 1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff Team 8:53:18 2 Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:06 3 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:09 4 Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:17 5 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:23 6 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:24 7 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-GreenEdge 0:00:31 8 Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:37 9 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:43 10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:44
Connor Bennett
Editor
Some riders now rolling through just over 15 minutes after the leaders, with the podium celebration going on next to them as they cross the finish
Connor Bennett
Editor
Alberto Contador holds onto his 6 second lead over Richie Porter, who also finished amongst the pack
Connor Bennett
Editor
Stage 2 Results: 1 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Movistar Team 2 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal +02' 3 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Dimension Data 4 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Direct Energie 5 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 8 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 9 Valerio Conti (Ita) Lampre - Merida 10 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
Connor Bennett
Editor
Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) finished 2 seconds back for second. From there it's Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) and Fabrice Jeandesboz (Direct Energie) to round out the top four
Connor Bennett
Editor
As mentioned, Sky certainly dropped back out of the sprint and BMC also looked to have given up in the final 400 metres. With the pack finishing together it won't make a difference for the standings
Connor Bennett
Editor
Jesus Herrada has flown around the outside with 100 metres to go to take the win!! Great positioning from Movistar to get their man the jump on the left flank, and he's cruised past the tired legs of the breakaway.
Connor Bennett
Editor
The leaders have been reeled in and soaked back into the pack with 200 metres to go!! Final corner now with Movistar in great position around the turn... two riders at the front. Sky have slipped back but it won't matter.
Connor Bennett
Editor
Plenty of searching behind them as the lead riders keep turning over the lead with 500 metres to go. A crash in the Peloton!! Two team mates have gone down
Connor Bennett
Editor
Chris Froome right up at the front of the peloton now, just third wheel back. The leaders are holding on desperately to their 18 second lead
Connor Bennett
Editor
Just 1.5km to go!! 19 seconds the lead
Connor Bennett
Editor
Tony Gallopin, Serge Pauwles and Fabrice Jeandesboz the three men out front. 19 seconds the gap now as two new riders break off the front of the peloton and begin to give chase
Connor Bennett
Editor
20 seconds the gap out front. Three riders really slugging it out but they are being reigned in quite quickly now
Connor Bennett
Editor
About 7 different team riders out the front of the peloton as the main pack begins to look a bit sluggish with the ascent getting slightly steeper 3.6km to go
Connor Bennett
Editor
Gougeard has been caught out front by the chase group. Meanwhile, Aussie Simon Gerrans has dropped off the back of the peloton and his day is done
Connor Bennett
Editor
6km to go now and the riders are now on the final ascent towards Chalmazel - Jeansagnière The lead has snuck back out to 42 seconds as Gougeard continues to hold on out front
Connor Bennett
Editor
BMC three wheels deep at the front of the pack, Tinkoff with two men separating the rest of the team. Just 30 seconds between lead and peloton now as the dozen riders in between slowly begin to drop back into the fold
Connor Bennett
Editor
Stage leader Gougeard gets his wheels over the the second to last climb a minute ahead of the peloton. He'll get a short break (just over 2km) before hitting the final categorised climb to the finish line.
Connor Bennett
Editor
More riders breaking off the front of the main pack!! A lot of single's making up the 1:30 difference between stage leader Gougeard and the yellow jersey in the peloton