Tour de France stage 2 LIVE: Three riders get a good gap with crashes, punctures and mechanicals hitting the peloton

115km to go

The break has 3'28" on the peloton.

125km to go

The break of Engelhardt, Molenaar and Van den Broek have 3'40" on the peloton.

Pogačar was the fastest of the riders from the bottom to the top of the Montjuïc climb in yesterday's TTT giving him the KOM jersey. However, Pidcock was faster in the final 700 metres, which is the steepest part of the climb, averaging over 40kph on the slopes that kick up to around 10%.

Veistroffer sits up and has now been caught by the bunch.

The temperature is now up to 35°c with Pinarello-Q36.5 deciding that they will take control of the stage as Tom Pidcock looks to take the win today.

Jenthe Biermans (COF) back at the doctors car. The medics have had a very busy start to the stage today.

Veistroffer now at +2'35" on the leaders. He won't be joining them.

Second bike change for Girmay after crashing.

The gap yawns open to over three and a half minutes to the three leaders with Veistroffer just under a minute behind them.

With Lipowitz being close to the rear of the peloton early on today, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe may be a bit worried as he struggled in the TTT, leaving Remco Evenepoel to kick on alone...

'I don't know what happened to Florian' - Remco Evenepoel takes charge in Tour de France team time trial as Lipowitz loses contact on final climb

No team has come to the front to control things just yet as the gap continues to grow.

Some of the big teams now swinging to the side to take comfort breaks as the peloton goes clear.

Yet another puncture. It is John Degenkolb (TPP) now.

And that is that, the peloton sits up with the leaders getting over a minute. Veistroffer is in the gap at 30" and will be hoping to join the trio out front.

Veistroffer is now in the gap and the peloton looks to have finally eased up.

The peloton are trying to calm things down but they can see the break just 17" up the road and want to bridge as Lotto-Intermarché manage to get a solo rider out of front with the peloton looking happy with that move.

Yet another puncture, this time for Damien Howson (PQT).

Gate is back at the doctors car after his crash.

Counter attacks continue to kick off out of the peloton but they don't get very far off the front.

The three leaders are pushing hard but they only have 12" on the peloton now.

Puncture

Kevin Vauquelin (NCI)

The Frenchman can't buy any luck at the moment.

160km to go

Into the final 100 miles and the leaders have just 22" on the peloton as the fun and games continue behind.

More riders launch counter attacks in the peloton as the pace kicks up again to get into the early breakaway.

After that crash the peloton eases with the leading trio taking their chance to pull away.

Crash!

Aaron Gate (XAT)
Silvan Dillier (APT)
Biniam Girmay (NSN)
Robbe Dhondt (TPP)
Kelland O'Brien (JAY)
Anton Charmig (UXM)
Maxim Van Gils (RBH)
Dorian Godon (NCI)

All seem to be getting back up and setting off again.

Engelhardt is joined by Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Frank van den Broek (Picnic-PostNL). They have 17" on the peloton so far.

Interesting to see Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) right near the back of the peloton already. The German struggled in the TTT yesterday and looks to be hurting early on here.

Attack

Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla)

The new German champion goes clear and is joined by a Picnic-PostNL rider with Caja Rural-Seguros RGA launching two riders across.

The peloton is stretched right out in one long line as the first attack is caught. Veistroffer isn't giving up, though.

Six riders get a gap with another couple coming across as UAE Team Emirates-XRG chasing it down.

168.5km to go

Racing begins and it is the breakaway star Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto-Intermarché) leading the first move of the day.

Just 1km to the official start.

Multiple issues for riders including Seb Berwick (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) who has a front wheel puncture.

Just over 5km left of the neutral in Tarragona.

Neutral start

The riders have started the neutral zone with a couple of issues for riders including Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla).

Vingegaard went to the presentation today with a familiar sight of the covid mask as he aims to avoid illness.

Lets take a look at who's in what jersey today!

Yellow - Jonas Vingegaard (TVL)
Green - Egan Bernal (NCI)
Polka dots - Tadej Pogačar (UAX)
White - Juan Ayuso (LTK)

Best team - Netcompany-Ineos

Just 10 minutes until the neutralised start.

The temperature is already above 30°c in Tarragona and will get hotter as the day goes on. It is going to be a tough day in the saddle for the riders who will need to manage the amount of liquid and food they take on throughout the day very carefully.

Other riders to come down were about half of the XDS-Astana team. Fortunately, none of them have left the race due to this, but a calamitous start to the race.

'Not the way we wanted to start the Tour de France' - XDS Astana suffer spectacular crash in team time trial

We do have one non-starter to tell you about, Clement Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United) is the first man to leave the race after crashing in yesterday's TTT.

Make sure to do our prediction game and vote for who you think will take the stage today. Will it be a win for Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)? Maybe the world champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will show his strength? Perhaps some British success with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5)? Or someone else? Vote above this update! And comment your pick at the bottom of the page.

There was a lot of new tech and interesting cooling techniques on show in yesterday's TTT from new helmets to ice boxes to plunge arms into, it was all there in Barcelona...

Cooling hacks, prototype bikes and new TT groupset parts: Tour de France TTT tech gallery

There are absolutely huge crowds in Tarragona for the rider presentation and neutral start today.

We remain in Catalunya for stage 2 of the race after a rapid and hot TTT in Barcelona yesterday. Relive the action with our post race report below...

Tour de France: Visma-Lease a Bike sweep to stage 1 team time trial victory in Barcelona

Bonjour and welcome to Cyclingnews' live updates of stage 2 at the Tour de France 2026!

Rider presentations are well underway in Taragona before today's start with the neutralised start coming in around 45 minutes time. The day starts simply enough but turns into a nasty finale with three more times up the Montjuïc climb in Barcelona with over 2500m of elevation. See our in-depth preview below for a deeper dive into what the riders will face today...

Tour de France 2026 stage 2: A chance for Pogačar or a puncheur with three Montjuïc climbs - preview