2019 Tour de France: Stage 2 preview
Sunday, July 7 2019: Brussels (TTT), 27km
Stage 2: Brussels
Date: July 7, 2019
Distance: 27km
Stage type: Team Time Trial
The Tour's racing director Thierry Gouvenou has suggested that if the conditions are right this 27-kilometre team time trial course could produce a new record speed for a stage of this kind, improving on the 57.841km/h average set by Orica-GreenEdge when they won over 25km in Nice during the 2013 event. Featuring plenty of long straights, just a handful of tight turns where the eight-rider teams will have to ease off on the gas for a few moments, and barely any climbing of note, it promises to be as tightly contested as last year's contest in Cholet, where five teams finished within 11 seconds of each other at the top of the leaderboard, BMC taking the spoils with a margin of four seconds over Sky and seven over QuickStep.
Starting outside the magnificent Palais Royal, the course heads east towards Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, then tracks into the southern suburbs of the city, before turning north to bisect the Belgian capital in order to reach the finish adjacent to the Atomium. A yellow jersey adorned with an image of a young Eddy Merckx will be presented here to what is likely to be a new wearer, perhaps from one of the teams that has this jersey as its ultimate target when the race reaches Paris in three weeks’ time.
Ineos, Sunweb, Mitchelton-Scott and Jumbo-Visma should all be in the frame, but racing on home terrain with the crowd and great form to motivate them, Deceuninck could be the outfit to beat. Their 2018 King of the Mountains winner Julian Alaphilippe has acknowledged that the prospect of him being in yellow at this early point in the Tour has crossed his mind, and those teams with longer-term objectives won’t be too disappointed if the Frenchman or one of his teammates carries the pressure of the yellow jersey for a few days.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Aero chain catchers and taped up seatposts: Jonas Vingegaard's 'prototype' aero bike leaves no stone unturned at the Tour de France
Don't be fooled by the prototype sticker, this is ready to roll -
It's Round Five in the epic Vingegaard-Pogačar duel - Philippa York analysis
Philippa York takes a close look at form, tactics and team strengths ahead of the major battle at the 2025 Tour de France -
'No dependency on Demi' – Could the wider Vollering effect help FDJ-SUEZ to win another Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia Women?
Évita Muzic and Juliette Labous lead French team in Italy, as manager Stephen Delcourt hopes the team can build on the successes of their star rider -
'Bonne soirée, Lille' - Parade of riders at Tour de France teams presentation delights crowd with new team kits, national colours and free bottles
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar impresses crowd surrounding Column of the Goddess statue with comments in local language