Key events
126 km left: Have any of our readers stayed at the Parkhotel Valkenburg? What is it?
I worked on the bike race in Valkenburg around 2017 and it was a great place as I remember.
127 km left: Sabrina Stultiens (Liv Racing Xstra), Femke Geritse (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Rotem Gaffinowitz (Roland Kogeas Edelweiss) and Marit Raaymakers (Human Powered Health) are the four front-runners.
Meanwhile, here’s a preview of the approach to tonight’s finish via Felix Mathis on Twitter:
The final turn at Provins in 300 meters is a longer uphill turn – not very technical. However, you can only see the finish line 75 meters before the finish line.
(4km to 1km acceleration is more technical with tighter turns!)#TDFF pic.twitter.com/f7FDOTmoF8— Felix Mattis (@felixmattis) July 25, 2022
130 km left: The attack began. Four riders try to break away from the front, presumably with pictures on the Cat-4 climb, Cote de Tijo.
Neutralized zone successfully resolved, the flag is down, and the stage itself is on. The pleasant weather of 24C is much more reasonable than the 40C-plus temperatures the riders endured for much of the men’s race.
We are moving to the second stage.
I’m not quite sure why the start of this stage isn’t live on Eurosport? C’est la vie.
Thaddeus Pagachar is on the spot.
After an incredible solo trip yesterdaysingle-handedly holding off the peloton on the streets of Paris, Gladys Verhulst (Le Col-Wahoo) was awarded prize de la combativité and thus wears a red breastplate today.
Some of the best pictures from the Tour de France:
The peloton must roll out at 12.50pm French time / 11.50am UK time. However, Eurosport’s live coverage won’t start until 12.45pm UK, meaning we’ll miss the scrap for the intermediate sprint (after 16.9km). I’ll be giving you as many updates as I can via the live tracker and anything on social media until the live coverage goes live.
A couple of bits fresh reading of the men’s race here:
“I expected it to be harder” Kasia Nevyadoma told Eurosport about this yesterday in Paris. “I feel like everyone just wanted to feel safe and careful. Nothing crazy happened. It was definitely a good first leg. Maybe I expected the race to be chaotic and tense, like everyone who is constantly fighting for position.”
Who do you like on stage today?
Jeremy Whittle’s Tour de France first stage report here:
Preamble
Lorena Vibes overtook Mariana Voss in the long straight sprint to the finish yesterday in Paris to win the first stage and get a yellow jersey. Today, the race moves east from the French capital on a mostly flat 136.4km trip from Meaux to Provençal.
Again there is one designated climb, the Category Four Cote de Tijo: the fact that it arrives within the first 17km should ensure a frantic start for the riders and teams competing in the QOM. Femke Markus (Parkhotel Valkenburg) starts in polka dots after winning Sunday’s “climb” on the iconic Champs Elysees.
The single intermediate sprint of the day starts in Province after 116 km. With 70 points in the green jersey competition, DSM’s Wiebs also leads the standings, but runner-up Lotta Kopecky will be in green today, with Wiebs in yellow mayo.
In Paris, the races were fast and of high quality, although, as Kasia Neviadoma (Canyon–SRAM) said afterwards, perhaps not as full throttle as we might have expected. Will that change today?
Stage starts: 11.50am UK time
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2022/jul/25/cycling-tour-de-france-femmes-stage-two-live-updates
