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Tour de France 2015: Stage 2

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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 102nd Tour de France. Stage 2 sees the riders travel 166km from Utrecht to Zélande with racing getting underway at 13:15 local time.

 

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the Tour de France's second stage. Make sure you visit our Tour de France race page for all the latest on the race.

It's a pancake flat 166km stage but it won't be a straight forward day in the saddle for the peloton with crosswinds and storms predicted for today. Read our stage preview by clicking here

Yesterday Rohan Dennis became the tenth Australian to win a stage at the Tour de France and seventh to wear the yellow jersey. You can read our race report of stage 1 by clicking here

It is 25 degrees in Utrecht but just 19 degrees at the finish in Zelande at the moment. Isolated showers at predicted for the first part of the stage before becoming more frequent, and locally heavy and thundery. Adding to that, northwesterly crosswinds are expected at the finish with gusts around 40/50 km/h.

There was lots of new tech on show yesterday. We've put together a gallery of Aero goodness, cool components and set-up peculiarities for you to browse through. Click here to have a look.

Yesterday he was on a standard BMC bike but as the first yellow jersey wearer of the 2015 Tour de France, Rohan Dennis will be riding all an yellow BMC today. Click here to find out more

Rohan Dennis won all three jerseys on offer yesterday, yellow, green and white but of course he can't wear all three.

LottoNL-Jumbo lead the team classification after stage 1 but as they team already wears yellow helmets, it's business as usual for the Dutch squad.

Of the 'Fab Four' it was defending champion Vincenzo Nibali posting the best time in the time trial yesterday. To read what he had to say after the stage, click here

Chris Froome, second best of the 'Fab Four', was content with his showing in the time trial as he explained yesterday.

In case you've missed it, Cyclingnews will have a daily podcast from the Tour de France. To listen to the stage 1 podcast, click here

30 minutes until the start of stage 2 

Alexander Kristoff turns 28 today. He'll be looking to celebrate by claiming the stage win today

This is the profile for stage 2 of the Tour de France

L'Equipe's A. Thomas-Commin has tweeted a photo of Rohan Dennis in the yellow jersey with his yellow bike and helmet

Today's intermediate sprint is hosted by Rotterdam at kilometre 80.5. The Dutch city was the grand depart of the 2010 edition of the race.

A storm is brewing in the Netherlands. Have a read of what to expect on the second stage of the Tour de France by clicking here

 And they're off!

The riders are rolling out of Utrecht in the neutralised zone. race leader and yellow jersey Rohan Dennis is on the front. 

It is sunny and warm at the start but the wind is already blowing at the finish. 

Along side Dennis at the head of the peloton are the other jersey wearers. Dennis won all the jerseys but Tony Martin is wearing the green points jersey and Tom Dumoulin is wearing the white jersey a best young rider. There is no polka-dot jersey in the peloton today as the climber's competition has yet to start. 

Who is your tip to win today's stage? Lets us know in our special stage forum page. 

Alexander Kristoff spoke to Eurosport before the start of the stage. He’s expected a hectic finale today.

The stage is still neutralised, with the riders tucked in behind the red ASO race car. 

There is a special start ceremony before the actions begins.  

The race stopped briefly to listen to the national anthem of the Netherlands.

The ceremony is now offer and the riders are rolling again. Now more riders are pushing for a place at the front ready to jump in the break when the race starts officially and the flag is dropped.

And here we go! Prudhomme waves the flag and the stage is underway. 

We immediately have riders on the attack, looking for the early break of the day.

It seems the big teams are happy to let four riders go. 

The four riders are Stef Clement (IAM Cycling), Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne Seche), Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Jan Barta (Bora Argon 18).  

We're hearing from the finish at the wind is blowing stronger and stronger, with rain starting to fall. 

Etixx-Quickstep is leading the peloton but not really chasing the break for now. 

9km remaining from 166km

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme made a visit to the finish of stage 2 back in December. It was rather windy 

Armindo Fonseca is making his third successive Tour de France appearance in 2015. His two professional wins were both in 2014, a stage of Boucles de la Mayenne and the one-day Tour de Vendée race.

Mark Renshaw spoke to Cyclingnews contributor Rupert Guinness this morning about the stage and what to expect from Etixx-Quick Step.

For Jan Bárta, it is the second straight year that he is riding the Tour de France. His best result in 2014 was third in the final time trial.

Stef Clement is the most experienced of the four breakaway riders with four previous Tour de France appearances. He first rode the French grand tour back in 2008.

The fourth and final member of the breakaway is Perrig Quemeneur. This is his third appearance of racing the Tour de France

After 20km of racing, the break of four riders have an advantage of 2:14 minutes

New for the 2015 Tour de France is the introduction of live GPS tracking and analysis for all riders, plus GoPro cameras on certain bikes. With big gaps expected at the finish of today's stage, the GPS tracking in particular should be very helpful to the time keepers

With 27 of the 166km in today's stage covered, the four leaders advantage is out to 2:40 minutes

Alberto Contador admires the yellow jersey of Rohan Dennis on the start line

Rain has been reported at the finish line in Zelande 

Etixx-Quick Step and BMC are the two teams on the front of the peloton keeping the break at a stable distance out in front

It's one year to the day that Mark Cavendish crashed on stage one of the 2014 Tour de France. His boss, Etixx-Quick Step team manager Patrick Lefevere, spoke to letour this morning. Here's what he had to say.

35km remaining from 166km

Fabian Cancellara needs a wheel change 

Tyler Farrar also requires a new wheel after puncturing

The average speed in the first 41.5km of the stage is 46km.h

118km remaining from 166km

The drops of rain have raised the tension in the peloton, with teams trying to move their leaders to the front. 

The Tinkoff-Saxo team is now on the front of the peloton protecting Alberto Contador.

Team Sky is also up front for Chris Froome.

Cyclingnews has a daily podcast after each stage.

Contador is riding in fourth place and Tinkoff-Saxo seems ready for any echelons. 

Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) spoke to Italian television RAI briefly before the start. 

The roads are now exposed and the peloton is lined out. 

Tinkoff-Saxo has split the peloton! 

Bennati and Tosatto kicked it off and caused the split when Contador shouted at them to switch to the right side of the road. 

Team Sky is also on the front and driving the echelon.  

A front echelon of 40 or so riders has already gone off the front.  

There are 3 groups spread down the road.

Froome is safely protected, as is Nairo Quintana by his Movistar teammates.

The front echelon is only 40 seconds behind the break now.

Rui Costa (Lampre) is one of the big names to miss the front echelon. Several sprinters too.

The road furniture and traffic islands is also making the racing tough. it splits the peloton and forces riders to chase and switch sides of the road. 

The second echelon/group is closing the gap on the peloton as the road is protected from the wind.

Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) is in the chase group.  

As the groups come back together,  riders quickly eat and drink.

The riders are on the outskirts of Rotterdam, protected by the buildings and trees.

The break is still off the front as the peloton catches its breath before the next section of exposed roads.

90km remaining from 166km

Barta attacks from the break in pursuit of the intermediate sprint points.

Barta is pushing a huge gear as he tries to stay away.

The peloton is also about to fight for the remaining points.

Barta reaches the intermediate sprint first, waving to the huge crowds to stand back from the road. 

The other breakaways reach the sprint with Degnkolb beating Kristoff, Sagan and Cavendish in the sprint for fifth place.

Barta is still going and has been joined by Quemeneur in the break. 

Crash. Several riders have been involved and are getting mechanical assistance. 

The riders have crossed the river Mose via a bridge. Three riders are chasing after the crash.  

The race is heading more and more towards the coast and so will soon be more exposed to the wind and rain.

Barta seems to knew his time will soon be up and blows a kiss to the television.  

The riders are passing through the feed now, grabbing their musettes and bottles from their team soigneur. 

Crash! Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) has gone down and is in pain. 

He gets a front wheel change and sets off in pursuit of the peloton. He will be hoping to be luckier in the finale of the stage.

70km remaining from 166km

The race is riding into the wind at the moment but with 57km to go, the race route turns left just after Geervliet. The wind will blow from the right and so perhaps spark more echelons.

Crash! 

Wilco Kelderman has crashed again and taken a bike from a mechanic. He seems a bit shocked as he tries to get going again.

Up front Team Sky is back on the front and driving the race after another split. 

It seems the Kelderman crash split the bunch.

The peloton is about to swallow the trio up front. 

62km remaining from 166km

The speed is rising. It seems that Rafa Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) is stuck in the second group.   

The front group is going away after sweeping up the break. 

It is now raining hard.

Pierre Rolland (Europecar) is also in the second group. His GC hopes could end today.

Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin) and sprinter Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) are also in the chase group. 

The rain is coming down in buckets now and the roads are exposed.   

Crash! Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) goes down on his right side. 

He's covered in mud but fights the pain to get going again.

Upfront Etixx-Quickstep has hit the front to force a split in the wind.

55km remaining from 166km

We already have several echelons.

52km remaining from 166km

Movistar is trying to drag Quintana back to the front group. 

They are 30 seconds behind.

Katusha is also chasing for Purito Rodriguez.

But the gap is growing and is now 45 seconds.

Upfront the Lotto Soudal, Etixx and BMC teams are setting a fast pace. 

Bouhanni has a problem and calls from his team car from the back of the peloton. 

2014 winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) is also behind the front group, in a smaller chase group. We have three groups on the road. He is 15 secs back, with Rohan Dennis.

BMC seems to have abandoned Dennis to protect van Garderen

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