Another sprint stage after scenic riding, some memories from the past for Fabio Aru and all one day closer to the Alps.
Stage 2 Wrap: the early break went right away but Astana seemed upset to miss it and accelerated mid-stage before launching Alexey Lutseneko across the gap, all while behind the increased pace was seeing some riders dropped, including Arnaud Démare. The Kazakh’s counter-attacked worked and soon after joining the escapees he didn’t like the company and went solo. It was a big show of power but for uncertain purposes and he was reeled in with 10km to go.
The sprint finish featured a long straight road and was a contest of sprint trains and as congested as the approach to Howrah on a Monday morning. A year ago Nacer Bouhanni was duelling with Katusha’s Jacopo Guarnieri, now the Italian was working for FDJ and deftly shouldered Edvald Boasson Hagen out of the way to place Arnaud Démare in position. Démare launched his long sprint and duly won the stage. A sprint win but is he really a sprinter? His long sprint still suggests he can do more in the classics.
The Route: the longest stage of the week even if it’s only 184km. It’s downhill soon after the start but on a big wide road with a gentle gradient for the most part before a lumpy approach to Saint Félicien, famous to gourmets for a cheese now made across the region, famous to cyclos for the Ardéchoise ride across the region. They then take the same descent to Tournon exploited by Fabio Aru a year ago when he took a stage win but now it’s just a point on the way to the feedzone rather than a finish line but symbolically they cross the Rhone and the Alps start to loom.
There are two more climbs to tackle but nothing too hard, more 4-5% gradients for 2-3km even if the road keeps climbing well after the last marked climb.
The Finish: similar to yesterday’s stage, a long finishing straight but this time with a couple of obstacles, a roundabout by the 1km arch but unlike yesterday it’s totally flat.
The Contenders: Arnaud Démare (FDJ) looked convincing yesterday and has a strong team so why not again? To answer that he still benefited from some doors opening that slammed shut in the face of other rivals so Nacer Bouhanni (Cofdis) is probably his biggest rival in a straight speed contest to the line and his aero position helps. If he’s said to be off form then Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) is riding and contending and the third pick. Among all the others there’s nothing to reassuring, Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) probably needs a spicier finish, the same for Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and Ben Swift (UAE Emirates) but they could seize the moment. Coquard especially needs a win, he’s leaving Direct Energie but appears not to have signed a deal with a new yet and so his contract value is in play, in addition his departure upset team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau who initially ruled him out of the Tour de France team but he’s since said Coquard can ride… if he wins a stage this week. It’s today or Thursday.
Watch out for Pierre Latour, he’s a local for the finish. The route doesn’t suit but he’s a showman and on home soil and therefore irrepressible. He’s still labelled Pierre-Roger Latour in places, a mistake. If you want more reading on him then a recent piece in France’s Liberation is entertaining.
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Arnaud Démare, Nacer Bouhanni |
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Alexander Kristoff |
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Coquard, Boasson Hagen, Swift |
Weather: sunshine but the chance of a thunderstorm or downpour later on in the stage. If the weather stays nice there will be a top temperature of 21°C.
TV: the finish is forecast for 4.20pm CET. It should be on the same channel you watch the Tour de France and/or Eurosport. Given the likelihood of sprint finish it should pay to tune in later on but there’s only an hour or so live so sit back and enjoy the helicopter shots of the Isère valley and the Vercors plateau that rises above the finish.
I know it is a bit unfair but this all seems a bit pedestrian after the tension on the roads of Italy. However the scenery is great. Despite spending many happy holidays in Italy there is something about the French landscape that appeals, it does seem to be the natural home of cycle racing.
As to the racing itself these first three stages do seem very much to be an hors d’oeuvre to the main event happening from tomorrow onwards. Sprints contested between riders who are unlikely to be contesting the sprints in a few weeks time are not the highlight of the racing calendar. Another contest between Demare and Bouhanni seems to be the most likely outcome.
If the race is the “mini Tour de France” then this is just the often routine first week.
I did see elsewhere that there is a suggestion of crosswinds today, that might shake things up considerably. Rather than a low key sprint stage it might be Sky, Quick Step and the Lottos trying to drop the rest. Unlikely perhaps but it does happen once in a while
The scenery is beautiful.
The countryside is so green and lush that it’s hard to believe it’s on the same southerly latitude as Venice and Trieste.
In fact, take away the red Roman tiled roofs and replace them with slate, and it could be northern England the riders are cycling through.
For architectural connoisseurs I’ve read elsewhere that France is roughly divided on a line at Chalon-sur-Saone into the north where ‘tuiles plats’ are the traditional roof covering and the south with its ‘tuiles romaines’.
Ah t’s funny, I was sat looking at the scenery on the 1st stage yesterday, seeing the ferns and unmarked roads in the hilly bits and thinking “this looks a lot like the Lake District”.
“seems a bit pedestrian after the tension on the roads of Italy”
So it feels like the first 2 Giro weeks? Funny how the Giro now is glorified for only a few days at the end, when still I remember the complaints in the first 2 weeks how dull everything was.
However, Dauphine is build onwards the mountain weekend, and so the first stages are relatively calm. For which is not the course to blame for. Wasn’t a pan flat sprinter stage. In a third week of a GT the hilly stages of the last 2 days could be much more interesting.
I’m not sure how it feels pedestrian. Two days and two really top class wins have both been highly impressive. I’ve enjoyed it very much.
Demare and his lead-out certainly gave EBH the cold shoulder. It’s amusing that the auto correct for Demare is ‘demure’, which he most certainly is not! 🙂
I’ll go for Demare to demurely tip-toe his way to another win today then.
I was very happy to see Bouhanni take part in the sprint after his awful crash in Yorkshire. I wasn’t convinced he would really go for it but instead just test the waters. I was wrong, he did and that shows a lot of courage.
When you say ‘He’s still labelled Pierre-Roger Latour in places’, that basically means everybody in the entire cycling community except Carlton Kirby has figured it out. That’s what it feels like anyway.
Carlton was even calling him “Roger Latour” at one point…
Anybody has a livestream link for the race please?
It’s on Eurosport/Eurosport Player if you can get it. The likes of cyclingfans.com and steephill.tv have schedules and links to broadcasters.
I’d seen links being shared here during Giro. You don’t allow it anymore?
No, just didn’t add them this time, sort of imagined everyone knows where to go, especially as the Dauphiné is on TV when the Giro and some other races are harder to find.
Tiz-cycling.racing
Best cycling video site going. They usually have that days uploaded within 4-6 hours and it’s HD quality. The livestreams are low Def and sketchy.
That days race is uploaded within 4-6 hours.
Second time in three days the DS’s have got their sums wrong. I guess with the GC teams not being bothered about chasing it leaves a lot of the work down to one or two teams who dont want to use up lots of energy with the benefit going to another team.