As it happened - A reduced sprint finish in the rain at Itzulia Basque Country stage 2

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of Itzulia Basque Country!

We're just a few minutes away from the start of the stage in Irun.

Just one classified climb on today's stage, the hill of Saint-Ignace after 19.5km, which measures in at 2.7km long at an average of 5.1%.

The riders have already set off into the neutral zone before the start of the stage.

And stage 2 is officially underway: only 160 kilometres to go

2,300 metres of vertical climbing today, so although on paper it's a bunch sprint stage, the potential for breaks is large, and the terrain is tricky and technical throughout. 

A photo of our four leaders jerseys for the day, with Primož Roglič  (Bora-Hansgrohe) looking serious in yellow on the left, next to him Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) wearing the mountains jersey as he was second behind Roglič on Monday's one classified climb.

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), second on the stage 1 TT, is wearing the points jersey. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), leading the one ranking that Roglič doesn't command, the BYR, is on the right.

Five riders have managed to open up a gap in the opening five kilometres: that's  Alexis Vuillermoz (TotalEnergies), Enekoitz Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Ivan Cobo (Kern Pharma), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Xabier Azparren (Q36.5). 

150km to go

The five men in the break of the day have opened a solid lead in no time at all, and now have a gap of 1:30. 

And if you were wondering if the two Azparrens in the break of the day were related, you'd be right: they're brothers. Xabier of Q36.5 is 25, four years older than Enekoitz.

We're heading rapidly towards our one classified climb of the day, the  cat 3 Saint-Ignace at km19.5 (2.7km, 5.1%).

And at the foot of the Saint-Ignace, the gap has now widened to 2:40.

The Itzulia has now crossed the border into the French Basque Country, with a first passage through the finish town of Cambo at km50. 

Bora-Hansgrohe take control at the head of the peloton, but they aren't setting anything like a chasing pace as they do so, and the gap for the break continues to rise on the Saint-Ignace climb to nearly four minutes.

Bol takes the maximum total points on offer on the climb – three –  ahead of Cobo and Vuillermoz.

48 seconds slower than Roglič in the opening TT, Xabier Azparren is the best placed of the five on the overall rankings, and thus is the race leader on the road.

Of the five, Vuillermoz is by far the most decorated, with a stage win in the Tour de France  on the Mûr de Bretagne back in 2015 his breakthrough win, but also a stage in the Criterium du Dauphine in 2022 in his palmares.  

130km to go

The gap drops slightly to 3:30 for the five riders ahead.

And here's a first shot of our break of the day

115km to go

Just over an hour gone and the riders have completed 43km.

Ion Izagirre, Jonathan Lastra, and Tom Paquot have been caught up in a crash in the peloton.

Meanwhile Bol stops in the breakaway for a bike change.

Movistar, Bora, and QuickStep all at the front of the peloton.

105km to go

The riders currently traversing some hilly ground, but no more classified climbs remain on the stage.

The riders have passed through the first intermediate sprint of the day but we haven't had the result yet.

Here we go – Vuillermoz won the sprint ahead of Xabier Azparren and Enekoitz Azparren.

10, 6, 4 points for the trio.

Here's a look at the current GC standings and stage 1 results.

Primož Roglič won the opening time trial, beating Jay Vine and Mattias Skjelmose in the process. Check out the Itzulia Basque Country stage 1 results here.

3:40 for the breakaway now after passing the 100km to go mark.

Cobo is now struggling to hold on in the five-man breakaway.

90km to go

Cobo now off the rear of the group.

He's 15 seconds off the back now. The peloton remains at 3:40.

Tom Pidcock out of Itzulia Basque Country with hip injury from crash in time trial recon

Briton withdrawn from race before opening stage as scans reveal no fractures

The riders now taking on a hilly route to the south after passing through Kambo for the intermediate sprint.

They'll circle around to the east, then north, before approaching the town from the west to the finish.

Cobo now slowing up and waiting for the peloton after he was dropped from the break.

Remco Evenepoel racing in the peloton. He finished fourth on yesterday's opening stage following an early crash and now lies 11 seconds down on Roglič.

April fools: Remco Evenepoel loses out on aero advantage in Itzulia Basque Country time trial amid head sock ban mix-up

Soudal-QuickStep leader claims UCI email says head sock banned from April 1 but website states April 2

80km to go

3:35 for the breakaway now as Cobo is reabsorbed into the peloton.

How to watch Itzulia Basque Country 2024

Catch all the action as Roglic, Evenepoel, and Vingegaard headline the contenders in the hills of the Basque Country

70km to go

Still 3:30 for the breakaway currently.

The gap is gradually coming down, though there's a long way to go.

Some spots of rain falling now as the peloton closes to 2:45 down.

61km to go

Ineos and Bora leading the chase.

Juan Ayuso among his UAE teammates in the peloton.

2:45 for the four-man break now.

The rain is falling harder now.

50km to go

Three minutes for the break now.

Giro d'Italia still a 'serious option' for Wout van Aert despite multiple fractures

Het Laatste Nieuws reports that Belgian's pain is subsiding, though Visma-Lease A Bike say there is 'no news to report'

The four men out in the break still all together at the moment.

43km to go

Bora and Bahrain on the front now. The gap to the break is coming down and currently stands at 2:25.

The gap is coming down quickly now as the peloton speeds up.

A 42kph average so far.

31km to go

1:10 for the break now.

It's only coming down now as the riders take on more unclassified hills.

Soudal-QuickStep and Groupama-FDJ both up front in the peloton along with UAE Team Emirates.

25km to go

Just 40 seconds for the break now.

Bora-Hansgrohe now in the lead with Roglič up there.

A look at the peloton being watched over by the TV helicopter.

Michael Rogers quits role as UCI Head of Innovation and Esport

Former Australian professional rider moves on less than four months before the Paris Olympics

Three Bora riders lined up in front of Roglič here.

A few more small hills and the day's final intermediate sprint left to go before the finish.

20km to go

30 seconds for the break.

The lead quartet still all together, though Bol is dropping away on this descent.

17km to go

Bol is hanging in there and getting back on.

The breakaway riders only have 25 seconds on the peloton now.

The peloton is now spread across the road with plenty of teams represented at the front.

15km to go

20 seconds for the break now. Bora, FDJ, Movistar up front.

The peloton continues to shave seconds from the lead as we near the finish.

Uphill now and just a few kilometres to go until the riders tackle the intermediate sprint at Espeleta.

13km to go

The four men in the breakaway still together.

Now AG2R and EF are taking it up at the front.

It's over for the breakaway as the four men are caught together.

3km to go until the intermediate sprint.

11km to go

EF continue to lead it at a high pace.