Critérium du Dauphiné stage 2 - Live coverage

Hello there, and welcome to the Cyclingnews live race centre for stage 2 of a mouthwatering Critérium du Dauphiné. Yesterday, with it's 218 kilometres, seven categorised climbs, and piercing uphill finish, was actually the gentle introduction. From here on out, it's summit finishes, all the way through. 

It's a pretty short stage, at 135km, but the riders will have to face the nasty Côte Maillet before taking on the final climb to the finish on the Col de Porte, which, at 17.5km, is one of the longest summit finishes they'll do all season. 

The riders are currently going through the sign-on process in Vienne. They'll roll out at 12:50 local time, so in around half an hour, and the stage proper will get underway around 10 minutes later. 

Before we get going, now's the time to catch up on the opening day's action. Wout Van Aert won, obviously, on a sharp uphill sprint at the end of a tough day. Egan Bernal was sharp to take third place while his Ineos teammate Chris Froome was dropped on the final climb. Report, results, photos at the link below. 

Critérium du Dauphiné: Wout van Aert wins stage 1

"Jumbo-Visma have been incredibly strong so have Ineos, and everyone is looking at those two teams but there are many, many other strong climbers here and I don’t think it will just be a two-team race," says Richie Porte. 

"So let’s see what happens on the road. I’m looking forward to today’s stage. It looks like it’s going to be a solid test. Whatever happens our team is going to give everything they have for today."

More pre-race thoughts from the Australian, who shares a name with today's summit finish, in this story. 

Ineos have just been to the podium to sign on. That's Bernal in the white jersey - he's the best young rider after placing third yesterday. The leadership hierarchy at Ineos has been a major topic of debate but so far the Colombian is the only one who has staked anything like a proper claim. Thomas faces a big few days to see exactly where he's at in only his second race back, while there's a growing suspicion that Froome, dropped yesterday, is in a race simply to make the team.

This is such a stacked field, pretty much everyone is a 'rider to watch', but here are 10 - a nice round number. 

10 riders to watch at the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné

Here's our race leader in his new yellow jersey, the man of the moment, Wout Van Aert.

That's Daryl Impey in the green points jersey - on loan from Van Aert in yellow - after his second-place finish yesterday. Bernal is in white and Michael Schär (CCC) is in the polka-dots after taking the most mountains points from the breakaway yesterday. 

The riders are rolling, by the way. They're making their way through a short neutralised section before the flag drops and racing begins. It's a pretty short stage, so we could see a zippy start.

Here's the top of the overall standings. Almost all the big GC names finished in the front group, with the exception of Froome. 

1 Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma - 5:27:32

2 Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott - 0:00:04

3 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Ineos - 0:00:06

4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team - 0:00:10

5 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates

6 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team

7 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Pro Cycling

8 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale

9 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma

10 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis

Looking down the results, it wasn't a good day for NTT, with Meintjes, O'Connor, and Kreuziger all losing time. Pozzovivo was their only rider in the front group.

We're underway and the attacks have started.

Eight riders have opened up a small gap on the early false flat kilometres here.

That group is pulling away now, and it looks like that's our break of the day.

The eight riders up the road are:

Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie)

Geoffrey Soupe (Total Direct Energie)

Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ)

Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-QuickStep)

Jasha Sütterlin (Team Sunweb)

Ben O’Connor (NTT Pro Cycling)

Michael Schär (CCC Team)

Fabien Doubey (Circus-Wanty Gobert)

The eight escapees have opened up a gap of 2:30 after 10km. Credit to Schär for getting back out there after nearly 200km up the road yesterday. 

Here is Schär at the start this morning. 

It seems the breakaway's leash isn't being allowed to extend beyond 2:30. That seems harsh. Jumbo-Visma are taking command of the peloton, and it's Tony Martin who's been sent up to do the early grunt work. 

Speaking of Jumbo-Visma, Wout Van Aert was their man for the stage yesterday but now attention shifts to the overall, and a three-way leadership race of their own. Primoz Roglic appears streets ahead after dominating the Tour de l'Ain but Steven Kruijswijk has made a solid return, and Tom Dumoulin seems to be getting better after more than a year away from racing. Our man at the Dauphiné, Peter Cossins, caught up with the Dutchman about his hopes for the race. 

Tom Dumoulin going 'full gas' for GC at Critérium du Dauphiné

There's a steady crosswind for most of today's stage, which could help to explain the solid tempo in the bunch. No danger of echelons for now, but it looks like it'll turn into more of a cross-tailwind later on.

100km to go

The breakaway riders reach the intermediate sprint with a slightly-increased lead of 2:55.

Asgreen took the full 10 points at the sprint, followed by Armirail and Soupe. 

We're 13 days into the transfer window, and while it has been slowed significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been a number big moves already. We've fired up our transfer index, so you can keep tabs on all the ins and outs.

The Cyclingnews guide to 2020-2021 rider transfers

We've got a bit more on the flat before we reach the first two climbs of the day, the third-category Côte de Viriville (4.1km at 5.5%), and the fourth-category Côte de Roybon (1.5km at 7.1%). 

The break hit the first climb with a lead of three minutes

Schär looks to extend his lead in the mountains classification at the top, but has to settle for second as Doubey pips him. 

Onto the Côte de Roybon now, and the gap has nudged up again to 3:30.

This time Schär is first to the top, claiming the sole point on offer. 

73km to go

So, just under 75km remaining, and the breakaway of eight riders has a lead of 3:25 over the peloton. We're heading downhill for now, followed by a flatter stretch to the first of the two major climbs, which begins with just under 45km to go.

Here's how that break looks

And here are Jumbo-Visma, with Tony Martin doing what Tony Martin now does. 

Mikel Landa's Bahrain McLaren men have come to the front now and taken over from Jumbo. Their pace-setting has brought the gap to the break back down to 3:00.

Jumbo hit the front once more as we head through a feed zone. 2:45 the gap now as we continue downhill.

It's been nice weather so far but it's now raining at the finish on the Col de Porte

54km to go

The break reach the bottom of this descent and now face 10km on the flat before the start of the Côte de Maillet. 2:45 is the gap. 

Still Tony Martin on the front, who seems to have his forearms permanently glued to his handlebars. Jumbo have had a stunning return to racing, and, save for a brief moment of chaos on the final climb yesterday, dominated proceedings and rode a near-perfect stage. They look set to do so again today, and it'll be interesting to see how Ineos play this one, having tried to take them on on the final stage of the Tour de l'Ain, only to come off second best. 

41.2km/h is the average speed for the stage so far. 

The pace has suddenly increase in the peloton on the approach to the Côte de Maillet. 

Jumbo-Visma are still up there with their full team but others have now formed trains across the road. This will be a short climb, at 6.2km, but with a fierce average gradient of 8%. 

NTT look interested here, as Edvald Boasson Hagen hits the front and sets the tempo for them. They've got a man up the road in Ben O'Connor, but he lost time yesterday, as did most of their riders. Domenico Pozzovivo was the only one to finish in the lead group, and he'll be their main man going forward.

Jumbo are almost sprinting here and it's stage 1 winner and yellow jersey Wout Van Aert who hits the front now. 

43km to go

The breakaway are climbing but that surge in pace has seen their lead drop to 2:00.

The peloton hit the climb now, at pace, and riders are immediately spat out of the back, among them Alexander Kristoff. 

It remains to be seen how hard Jumbo ride up here. There's a short descent, followed by nearly 15km in the valley, before we start the long final climb up the Col de Porte. 

Jumbo seem to be opting for a steady tempo, as things calm down following that frantic approach. The Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo champion is setting the pace.

The gap drops to 1:30 but now stabilises. 

Away from this race, Remco Evenepoel has been out training for Il Lombardia this weekend. After his season so far, he's the overwhelming favourite, and you can read his thoughts here. 

Still it's Van Aert on the front. It's an impressive display from the man of the moment but the bunch aren't climbing any quicker than the break at this point. 

Arkea-Samsic have moved up. They're here with both Nairo Quintana and Warren Barguil. Sunweb are prominent, too, Tiesj Benoot being their main man, the former Strade Bianche winner still exploring his potential in week-long stage races. 

O'Connor is dropped from the break. He had a poor year last year and this one isn't going much better. 

Sutterlin and Doubey are losing contact now as the break starts to split apart. 

Schär is putting in another monster ride, despite his efforts yesterday. The big rouleur has been setting the pace most of the way up here and has now ridden everyone apart from Armirail off his wheel. Asgreen and Soupe are the next on the road but slipping back. 

Kwiatkowski has just found three musettes and is now handing out the contents on this 8% climb. No other teams appear to be choosing to feed at this point. 

It's a steady tempo but some decent climbers have just been dropped - Roman Kreuziger (NTT), James Knox (QuickStep), Hugh Carthy (EF).

-38km

Schär is still on the front as they approach the top of the Côte de Maillet, and Armirail is not going to deny him what he deserves here. The Swiss rider takes it across the line and adds another 10 points to his tally, earning another day in the polka-dots tomorrow. 

Van Aert leads the peloton over the top of the climb at 1:30. 

Down the fast 6km descent we go, and Armirail is distancing Schär here. 

Van Aert continues to lead the peloton on the way down. 1:30 the gap still. 

30km to go

Schär is back with Armirail as they reach the bottom of the descent and settle in for 12 kilometres or so on the flat on the road towards Grenoble. 

After the fast approach to the last climb, we can expect the same again now. The two leaders should reach the climb but they're not going to make it too far up. It's not been a really demanding day so there'll be plenty of fresh legs in the peloton and Jumbo seem ready to do another Ineos. 

The bunch lines out and Jumbo vs Ineos is indeed the way things are shaping up. It's six riders for the Dutch team followed in single file by the whole Ineos line-up. 

Crash. Nasty one in the middle of the road. 

Israel, Astana, and EF have riders on the deck. 

It's Sergio Higuita, the national champion of Colombia, who fell for EF, and that's a big blow. He's back on his feet. 

Dan Martin is down for Israel and doesn't look good. 

Higuita hit some raised road furniture in the middle of the road, and took the padding off a road sign clean off. He went flying, but he's back on his bike while Martin looks to be the worst affected. The doctor is with him now. 

20km to go

Meanwhile, the Van Aert-led bunch sweeps past more of the remnants from the break. The pace seems to have eased since that crash and the gap to the two leaders has grown to 1:20. 

We're just a couple of kilometres from the start of the Col de Porte now. 17.5km at an average gradient of 6.2%, which is mitigated by a flat and short descent a few kilometres up. 

Now the pace picks up again as teams jostle for position ahead of the climb.

There are some stiff early ramps but then comes the flat and that short descent. The hardest part of the climb comes between 8km-4km to go, before it slots into a more steady 7.5% to the top. 

Dan Martin is back on his bike and will try and finish the stage. Good to hear.

17.5km to go

Schär and Armirail begin the climb with a lead of 45 seconds.

Robert Gesink has already lost contact, but doesn't seem to be suffering. He had a good ride yesterday, but it's one rider down for Jumbo. 

Up front, Armirail rides away from Schär, whose job had already pretty much been done. 

Daniel Oss, of all people, hits the front to set the pace on the Col de Porte. It's calm for now. 

Van Aert is done for the day. 

16km to go

The Oss-led bunch catches Schär. Armirail continues with a lead of 29 seconds now as he springs from the saddle.

Oss is working for his Bora teammate Emanuel Buchmann, who was fourth at last year's Tour and still very much on the way up. He's known as 'the silent one' in that team but could have a big say at this year's Tour. 

Oss peels off and now it's Kuss at the head of affairs for Jumbo, but he barely seems to be exerting himself. 

Winner Anacona (Arkea) is dropped. Not good news for Nairo Quintana as that's his main domestique. 

Still, the rest of the Arkea lot don't seem too bothered, as Diego Rosa and Warren Barguil ride near the front with Quintana. 

Haig puts a stint in at the front but now falls back and it's Kuss once more. UAE look interested, too. They have one of the Tour favourites in Tadej Pogacar. 

Bob Jungels is dropped. Deceuninck-QuickStep leader Julian Alaphilippe is still there but had a disappointing day yesterday on a stage many predicted he'd win. 

Has Armirail sat down yet on this climb? Don't think so. He's still 30 seconds clear. 

Armirail does sit down now as he reaches the early plateau. Kuss still seems to be soft-pedalling at the head of the bunch. 

The pace looks easy at the front of the bunch but more and more riders have lost contact on that early section. 

Ineos hit the front on the plateau and take the front for the downhill section. 

Van Baarle leads the way for Ineos, followed by Thomas and Bernal. 

11.1km to go

Meanwhile Armirail has used the descent to take his lead out to 41 seconds.

Froome is still there for Ineos, although not right at the front in that train they're setting up. Ineos appear to have their whole team, while Jumbo have lost Van Aert and Gesink. 

The road is kicking uphill again now, and this is where things are going to get serious.

Ineos now have all seven riders in a single line on the front of what is a rapidly reducing peloton. 

Jumbo appear to be down to three - their three leaders. Not sure if Kuss is further back down the bunch. 

It was all going Jumbo's way, but we could be seeing the balance of power swing back towards Ineos here. 

10km to go

Van Baarle continues to lead, followed by Castroviejo, Kwiatkowski, Thomas, Froome, Bernal, Geoghegan Hart. Roglic, Dumoulin, and Kruijswijk are tucked in behind. 

Armiraril is losing time now, but this is still quite a ride from the Frenchman. He has 15 seconds with 9.5km still to go. 

Van Baarle pulls off! The Dutchman has massively reduced this bunch with a big turn, and now it's over to the next man.

Armirail has just 10 seconds now and is on the verge of being caught. 

Carl Fredrik Hagen (Lotto Soudal), future teammate of Froome, is dropped. 

8.5km to go

Armirail is caught by the Ineos train. Break over. 

Attack! It's Victor de la Parte (CCC Team). 

No one else is drawn out and the Spaniard is dangling in front of this Ineos train, as we've seen so many do before. 

It's Castroviejo, who looked so good at the Tour de l'Ain - better than Thomas and Froome in fact - setting the pace for Ineos now. 

7.5km to go

De la Parte is caught now.

Dumoulin is not in fact one of the three Jumbo riders behind Ineos. It's Roglic, Kruijswijk, and Kuss. Dumoulin still seems to be in this lead group, but right near the back. 

Davide Formolo and David de la Cruz are dropped for UAE. 

6.7km to go

Castroviejo looks over his shoulder, and Kwiatkowski shakes his head. The Spaniard looks at ease here. 

Most of the favourites are still in this lead group, which hasn't reduced too much in the past few kilometres. 

Alaphilippe in trouble! The Frenchman begins to fight with the bike at the back of the group.

6km to go

Castroviejo is done now. Kwiatkowski takes it up

Alaphilippe is dropped. He looked back to his best at Milan-San Remo but has suffered so far at this Dauphiné. 

Froome is now second in the Ineos train behind Kwiatkowski. 

Quintana, Pogacar, Pinot, Bardet, Valverde all up there behind the Jumbo riders. 

Valentin Madouas is done. Pinot has just Reichenbach in there now. Gaudu couldn't start this race, remember. 

The gradients are really biting now - into the double digits - and Kwiatkowski ramps up the pace. 

Haig, Elissonde among several riders quickly dropped as the pace lifts markedly.

5km to go

5km to go and Ineos are stamping their authority back on proceedings at a time when everyone was talking about Jumbo-Visma. 

Barguil is dropped. Quintana still up there. 

Quintana, Pinot, Pogacar, Mas, Porte, Buchmann, Bardet are the riders behind the Ineos and Jumbo teams. 

Valverde dropped, and now Adam Yates.

Froome dropped!

Froome can't handle the pace being set by Kwiatkowski and swings out of the Ineos train. Not good news for his Tour prospects. 

Froome gives a thumbs up to the camera but he knows he's up against it to make the Tour team. Geoghegan Hart has also been dropped so it's down to Kwiatkowski, Thomas, Sivakov, and Bernal for Ineos. 

3.8km to go

Kwiatkowski is done. 2018 Tour champion Thomas takes it up!

20 riders left in the front group with 3500 metres to go. The gradient gets slightly easier form here. 

Dumoulin is still there but he's right at the back still. 

Mas is dropped now.

Kruijswijk has also slipped back. Kuss is with Roglic, right behind the Ineos men.

3km to go

Uran dropped, and now Pozzovivo.

Thomas swings off! Sivakov takes over, the last man for Bernal. It's the Route d'Occitanie all over again.

Kruijswijk dropped!

2.4km to go

Buchmann attacks!

Bernal not quick to respond...

Kuss it is who takes it on, and makes the catch. Sivakov has blown. 

What a ride from Kuss. Roglic is behind him, with Pinot probing now. Dumoulin has been dropped by that attack. 

2km to go

11 riders left now. Bernal is in the middle of the group as Jumbo have wrestled back control. 

Pogacar has lost contact too! He's with Bardet. 

1.6km to go

Bernal attacks! He was looking vulnerable but breezes to the front. Kuss, though, comfortably snuffs it out and proceeds to pace Roglic. 

Kuss, Roglic, Bernal, Quintana, Buchmann, Lopez, Pinot, Porte, Lopez, Martin, Martinez. That's the group. 

1km to go

Under the flamme rouge! Kuss still leads and Roglic looks good for another win here. But Pinot has also looked fresh.

Quintana attacks! 800m to go

Buchmann responds and they weave over. Buchmann takes it up now and Roglic responds. Kuss gone.

Roglic accelerates! He gets a gap with 600m to go

Bernal tries to close it but he can't! Roglic is riding away here!

G.Martin sets off in pursuit, and now Pinot

But Roglic is away and is going to take another win here

Roglic sits up and celebrates. Pinot takes second ahead of Buchmann. 

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) wins stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné

Wow. Roglic looks absolutely unstoppable and must be moving level with Bernal now, if not clear, as favourite for the Tour de France. Ineos looked to be back in the box seat on that final climb, but one big attack and they lost control. Jumbo-Visma didn't look quite so good today, and Dumoulin and Kruijswijk ended up losing a bit of ground, but Kuss played a blinder and Roglic never faltered. 

Roglic is the new race leader. He put 10 seconds into Bernal there, with the Colombian finishing 10th in the end. 

Big result for Guillaume Martin in fourth, who's been having a good month after a podium at the Ventoux race and top 10 at Tour de l'Ain. He attacked when Bernal swung off and had to give up the chase of Roglic. He was overhauled by Pinot and Buchmann but that's still a top performance for the ever-improving French cyclist-philosopher.

Big gaps after that top 10. Kuss was 11th at 40 seconds, followed by Reichenbach, Bardet, and Dumoulin at 59 seconds. Disappointing from Pogacar at 1:01 and Kruijswijk at 1:09. Mas, Valverde, Yates, Uran, Barguil all lost more than 1:30.

Here's how the final kilometre played out

Big concerns for Team Ineos after today. They looked to have turned the tables on Jumbo and re-established their authority, but it all came undone. Froome was dropped before taking a turn and Thomas could barely manage a kilometre - that was arguably the turning point as only Sivakov was left 3km from the top and he immediately blew when Buchmann attacked. At that point, Jumbo, although Dumoulin and Kruijswijk were struggling, still had Kuss, who turned out to be the domestique of the day and effortlessly shut down an acceleration from Bernal. When it came down to a mano a mano in the final kilometre, Roglic came out well on top as Bernal scrambled to hang to the back of that group. Ineos will be rattled, and surely have to hope Jumbo are too good too soon - there are still five weeks to the end of the Tour, after all. 

Here's our report page, where you can also find results and photos.

Critérium du Dauphiné: Primoz Roglic wins stage 2 atop Col de Porte

"Today I struggled with the heat. I probably should have drank a bit more. I didn't have the legs on the final climb and struggled a bit to find my rhythm," says Pogacar.

"I recovered towards the end and managed to not lose too much time. It will be a hard week but I'm confident I'll find my rhythm."

And now we can hear from the stage winner and new overall leader, Roglic. 

"It’s a great result for our team. Once again we show that we prepared right. The whole team did a really great job and I’m happy to finish on top again. 

"We all knew about the hard climb at the finish and we started to control the race from the beginning. The guys are really strong so they managed it perfectly and in the end, I was happy to be able to win this. Egan [Bernal] is the Tour de France winner so he’s the strongest, or one of the strongest. But everyone is very prepared and you have to be the best in the end. It was quite a strange season. I’m happy with every race I can do this year and I’m really happy with the way it’s going."

Roglic didn't race this year before the season was halted due to the pandemic. His results sheet since then reads: 1-2-2-1-1-1-9-1. 

That 9th was the opening stage of this Dauphiné, when Van Aert was Jumbo-Visma's main man, and won. Despite losing the Slovenian TT title to Pogacar and being pipped by Bagioli on the opening stage of the Tour de l'Ain, it's been a perfect run. We will reiterate that the final week of the Tour is a long way away, but right now Roglic is a level above anyone else.

And what about Jumbo-Visma, who are winning left, right, and centre. 9 wins in 13 days for team that floundered in their post-Rabobank days but now look like one of the very best outfits in the world. 5 for Roglic, 3 for Van Aert - including Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche - plus one for George Bennett, who will come into the Tour squad, at yesterday's Gran Piemonte. 

As William alludes to, it's all very well saying the final week of the Tour is still far away, but the first week this year is the hardest for some time. It's not really an edition you can ease yourself into. 

The signal obviously wasn't great atop the Col de Porte, as we're only just receiving finish line shots from our photographers, but here you go. 

This might explain the lack of signal...

Tony Martin here, sheltering under a tree with a bunch of fans, as a massive Jumbo-Visma inflatable jersey is offered for protection. Bizarre scenes.

For the full results, more photos, and a full write-up, here's our stage report page. 

Critérium du Dauphiné: Primoz Roglic wins stage 2 atop Col de Porte

And here's a link for video highlights of that finale. 

2020 Critérium du Dauphiné stage 2 highlights - Video

Wow. Here's the damage the those hailstones have done to some of the riders. 

Reaction from Pinot, who finished second.

"It was a nice stage, and I felt good. In the end, it went to the strongest rider, quite simply, but I have to be satisfied with my second place. I think Roglic was really a step above, but after that there were about 10 of us on the top level. I feel I'm progressing since the Route d'Occitanie, which is the important thing, and we've got three more big mountain stages to come, so we'll try to continue doing as well as possible."

We've got some more info on the hailstorms, plus photos and videos, in the story below. 

Huge hail storm hits Critérium du Dauphiné riders and spectators

We're going to wrap our live coverage up, but keep an eye on the site for reaction from Froome, Roglic, and other big names, plus an analysis feature that looks at Roglic and Ineos and whether it's still too early to draw conclusions. A reminder that full report, results, and photos can be found at the link below. Oh, and we'll be back again tomorrow with full live coverage of another mountain stage and another sumit finish. Bye!

Critérium du Dauphiné: Primoz Roglic wins stage 2 atop Col de Porte