With their man Romain Bardet in yellow, DSM-firmenich PostNL are at the front of the main bunch and they are not really having to push too much given Jonas Abrahamsen is the highest ranked GC rider in the break and he began today's stage just over 15 minutes behind the Frenchman.

Brent van Moer and Michael Matthews, look like they have given up the ghost. They are starting to drop back towards the shelter of the main bunch and will conserve some energy by doing that.

Poor old Michael Matthews and Brent van Moer are still chasing the breakaway group here. They are currently over two minutes or so down and have quite a job on their hands, albeit the peloton are a further three minutes adrift.

In a post on X formerly known as Twitter,, external former world champion Philippe Gilbert reckons Matthews would never have launched his move without having a chat with his mate Tadej Pogacar to check if UAE Team Emirates were hunting a stage win.

Jonas Vingegaard was chatting away at the start line and said "he felt good and was there in the bunch."

"I was happy and felt pretty good. It was very warm and I think a lot of guys suffered in the heat but normally I am pretty good in the heat. Today I will try to hang on and we will see what happens."

Given the injuries he's had and the fact he was saying how comfortable he felt on Saturday on the race radio, the Dane could well be hoping to ride himself into Tour winning form here.

Signs Mark Cavendish is feeling much better today as he rejoins the peloton with lots of smiles.

Mark Cavendish was quickly off the back of the peloton on the first climb on Saturday and now has a mechanical on stage two.

Turin and a sprint stage on Monday cannot come quickly enough for the 'Manx Missile'.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

On to matters at hand...

The first 20km of today hugs the Adriatic coast so there's also a little bit of breeze knocking about and plenty of fans who, have jumped off their sun loungers to watch this great race whizz past.

There's been the normal skirmishes off the front to get in the break and 11 riders have managed to break the elastic and zip off up the road:

Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Axel Laurence (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar Team), Kevin Vaquelin, Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-Samsic), Mike Teunissen (Intermarche-Wanty), Bram Welten (DSM-firmenich PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies).

They have opened up a healthy three minutes on the peloton although Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla) and Brent van Moer (Lotto-dstny) are trying to bridge across.

Image source, Getty Images

Not that stage two is easy, but compared to stage one and its 3,600m plus of climbing, Mark Cavendish should hopefully have things a little easier today and seemed in a decent mood on the start line.

He said: "I'm a bit tired considering we have just had one day. I have had bad days before in the Tour and suffered through hard days but never so early on.

"But you also saw what a good team I have. The boys were incredible. I didn't say a word yesterday but they knew what I needed and looked after me. I had to give some hugs when I got to the hotel yesterday.

"I am very lucky that because I have been doing it 20 years I have the experience to get me through. It wasn't easy but every metre you do is one less metre you have to do and that is how I approach every race I do."

Here's a quick reminder of how things stand in the general classification after the opening stage of the Tour de France:

1. Romain Bardet (Fra/DSM-firmenich PostNL) 5hrs 07mins 22secs

2. Frank Van den Broek (Ned/DSM-firmenich PostNL) +4secs

3. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) +11secs

4. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +15secs

5. Maxim van Gils (Bel/Lotto-dstny) Same time

6. Alex Aranburu (Spa/Movistar) "

7. Mads Pedersen (Den/Lidl-Trek) "

8. Remco Evenpoel (Bel/Soudal Quick-Step) "

9. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) "

10. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Education-Easy Post) "

Image source, ASO

Stage two carries the race across the rolling hills of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy to Bologna, via Imola's famous motor racing circuit, and over the roads that saw Julian Alaphilippe win the World Championships in 2020.

Two climbs up to the sanctuary of San Luca - 1.9km at a 10.6% gradient - in the finale should provide a perfect launchpad for the puncheurs in the peloton to seek stage glory.

Read more

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Gett

Today's start is dedicated to former Tour and Giro d'Italia winner, the late Marco Pantani.

The 'Pirate', who died 20 years ago at the age of 34, was brought up in Cesenatico, which now has a museum and a statue in honour of him.

Image source, Getty Images

Welcome to our coverage of stage two of the Tour de France.

It is around 32°C on the road as the peloton rolls out so it looks set to be another sweltering day in the saddle for many of the riders, who will hope things are a little more relaxed than on Saturday.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images