There was a reason the riders in the main bunch were stretched out a bit on the way up Col d'Udana - the UAE team of Tadej Pogacar and race leader Adam Yates took over the tempo at the front of the pack and upped the pace, bringing the gap to the escapees down to four minutes.

Yes, Powless does indeed pick up those two mountain points, and gives a little salute in celebration. He is now four points clear in the King of the Mountains category, with nine more points up for grabs today.

The breakaway trio are 1km from the top of Col d'Udana, and back down the road the peloton are spread out on its slopes. Will Powless get those mountain points?

The peloton are about four minutes 45 seconds further back and are having some food, so they won't be trying to catch the escapees any time soon.

The sun is out as the escapees start up the first categorised climb of the day, the 4.5km category three Col d'Udana, but there has been plenty of rain further up the road, especially on Jaizkibel, which might make things even more interesting later on.

We can worry about that later, though. There are two mountain points up for grabs at the top of Col d'Udana and Neilson Powless will want them - he is in the polka dot jersey at the moment and will want to keep it.

Image source, Reuters

The racing may not be particularly exciting at the moment - like yesterday, this stage won't catch fire until the final climb - but at least the scenery is stunning.

The riders don't really get a chance to enjoy it, sadly. They are flying along much too fast for that.

Image source, Reute

Image source, EPA

Adam Yates' goal today is to keep the race leader's yellow jersey. He will have to work hard for that on the slopes of Jaizjibel, the final climb of the day, but for now the British rider is safely in the peloton with Tadej Pogacar and the rest of his UAE team-mates.

The three escapees are still around four minutes and 30 seconds clear and the main bunch are happy with that gap.

There are less bridges in this part of Basque Country than there were yesterday, so spectators are having to improvise to get the best view of the race.

They should take that digger to the Champs Elysees...

Image source, EPA

Yes, all the sprinters are at the front of the main bunch for the remaining points and it is Jasper Philipsen who bursts away and just about holds on.

Neilson Powless is in the polka dot jersey after day one and will be looking to pick up more King of the Mountain points later today.

First up, though, is an intermediate sprint. None of these breakaway riders have any serious ambitions of winning the green jersey but Edvald Boasson Hagen is the fastest of the three and he is first over the line.

The peloton will compete for the remaining points rather more fiercely, I feel....

It's another bumpy one - the longest stage of the Tour at 208.9km and featuring five more categorised climbs.

The Jaizkibel climb, famous from the San Sebastian Classic, is just under 20km from the end and is likely to have a bearing on the outcome and possibly the early race lead - there are bonus seconds up for grabs for the first riders to go over the top of it.

We're highly unlikely to see a bunch sprint at the finish so Mark Cavendish's bid for a record-breaking 35th Tour stage win will probably have to wait for another day.

Image source, Tour de France

Image source, Reuters

Just in case you have forgotten - Britain's Adam Yates is wearing the leader's yellow jersey after beating his twin brother Simon to the line at the end of stage one.

And, while 176 riders started the race, only 174 began today's stage. Movistar's team leader, Spain's Enrico Mas and his counterpart for EF Education-EasyPost, Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, have both pulled out.

The pair crashed into each other yesterday and Mas had to abandon almost immediately because of a shoulder injury. Carapaz got to the finish line but an X-ray shortly afterwards that showed he had a small fracture to his left kneecap, and his race was over too.

The flag dropped to start the stage about 45 minutes ago and we saw flurry of attacks from the off, before a three-man breakaway was allowed to go clear.

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen, Neilson Powless of the United States and France's Remi Cavagna have opened up a gap of around four minutes on the peloton, who are quite content to see them disappear into the distance, for now.

Hello, and welcome to stage two of the 2023 Tour de France. We are still in beautiful Basque Country - starting in Vitoria Gasteiz and finishing in San Sebastian... and it's fair to say there was a decent turn out to see the riders off.

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA