Tour de France stage 2 - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second stage of the Tour de France, the first road stage of the race.

It's the longest of the opening three stages in Denmark today, clocking in at 202km. Crosswinds could come into play today, with a crossing of the exposed 18km Great Belt Bridge coming just 21km from the line.

A look at the map of today's stage, featuring that bridge right at the end.

We're around 35 minutes from the start of the stage and the riders are signing on in Roskilde.

A look at Yves Lampaert, who is in yellow today having won yesterday's opening time trial.

Read our stage 1 report here.

Here's what Lampaert had to say at the start today...

"We have Fabio Jakobsen to do the best sprint today and we hope to maybe again take a victory today. I think we have quite a good shot. He's one of the fastest guys in the world.

"I'm proud. It's crazy. It's difficult to understand that I took the jersey. Also for the team it's straight away a nice start to the Tour and let's hope we can continue like this."

The Belgian also commented on the team's COVID-19 situation. Several staff members left the race after testing positive, including directeur sportif Tom Steels.

"It's a pity because also Tom Steels was one of the victims. He's my coach and the guy who took control in the car behind me so it's a pity that I can't celebrate with him. I called him on video call. It's not so fun but I hope he recovers well and can come back to the Tour.

"In the beginning I wasn't so afraid but yesterday after the finish I hugged a lot of people so now I start to think 'oh shit' two hours later they are COVID-positive and I start to think maybe I have it. I didn't have it the past two-and-a-half years, so to have it now in the coming days it would really be a pity."

Not long now until the stage gets underway.

Lampaert is in yellow today. Wout van Aert wears green. Tadej Pogačar is in white. There is, of course, no polka dot jersey just yet.

And the peloton has rolled out to start the neutral zone in Roskilde. 5.3km of riding until the real start.

Here's a look at our preview of today's stage...

Tour de France stage 2 preview - Crosswinds could inspire fight for the yellow jersey

Still 3km left of the neutral zone. It's been a slow roll-out so far.

202km to go

The riders roll though km0 and there's a bit of a delay in dropping the flag to start the stage...

And still, the stage isn't yet underway.

Adam Yates stops at the side of the road. It looks like he might have a puncture at this early stage.

Tim Wellens had a puncture in the neutral zone, which delayed the real start. Yates' puncture has delayed the start once again.

198km to go

Now the flag has finally dropped and we're underway.

Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) is among the early attackers.

He's joined out front by B&B Hotels-KTM duo Pierre Rolland and Cyril Barthe and Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert).

The peloton quickly blocks the road and this four-man move is our break of the day already.

195km to go

A minute between the break and peloton now.

Lampaert and Van Aert at the start today.

No other attacks have gone. The four men up the road are almost at two minutes now.

A calm start to the stage. We can expect a quiet stage for much of it...

188km to go

Two minutes for the breakaway.

QuickStep, BikeExchange, and Lotto controlling the peloton at the moment, unsurprisingly.

1:30 for the break now.

If you're into your tech then check out our mega gallery from stage 1 here.

A look at our breakaway men today.

Huge crowds greet the Tour today

172km to go

Nothing going on out on the road at the moment. 1:30 remains the gap.

Cort has been having words with the B&B duo in the break. It seems like he doesn't think they're putting in enough effort in the move.

167km to go

1:45 for the move now.

Still some way to go until the first climb of the Tour.

A shot of the big crowds out at the side of the road today.

Big tribute to the Danish former rider Chris Anker Sørensen, the 2012 combativity prize winner who passed away last September.

Clearly not everybody remembers who he was, going by the TV coverage streaming here...

We're 20km away from the day's first climb, the fourth-category
Côte d'Asnæs Indelukke. 

A 44kph average so far.

Still the four men out front here as they race towards the climb. 1:50 back to the peloton.

All eyes will be on the Great Belt Bridge later on.

Danish TV reports that former Danish prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has recently crossed the bridge and reports a strong sidewind there.

The pace has sped up in recent kilometres. 48kph is the average speed so far.

5km from the first climb of the Tour – the Côte d'Asnæs Indelukke.

It's 1.1km at 5.4% and the break will be fighting over a solitary KOM point here.

142km to go

Now the four breakaway men are about to tackle the climb. 

There are three points up for grabs today – who will be the first polka dot jersey holder of the Tour?

B&B are going for it on the climb.

500 metres to the top.

Barthe pushes the pace, now Bystrøm goes.

Cort behind as the B&B riders drop back!

Magnus Cort sprints past to the top.

Cort takes the KOM point over the top to take the classification lead.

The B&B pair cross the lead around 10 seconds later. It was always going to be hard to out-sprint Cort there but they really made a mess of that.

Barthe and Rolland are 13 seconds back.

138km to go

8km to go until the next climb, another fourth-category hill – the Côte d'Høve Stræde.

A look back at the peloton. BikeExchange, Jumbo, UAE all present at the front.

It looks like Cort and Bystrøm are away up front. The B&B pair are struggling.

Three minutes between break and peloton now as the leaders approach the second climb.

Still 16 seconds between the leaders and the B&B men.

Cort holds behind Bystrøm on the climb.

The B&B men are coming back but won't make it before the top.

A point here for Cort and he'll be in polka dots.

Now Cort hits the front 250 metres out.

They sprint!

It's close coming around the bend to the final stretch but Cort pushes past on the last run uphill.

130km to go

Cort leads the way over the top. Two points and he'll be in the KOM jersey later on.

Barthe and Rolland didn't make it back to the front, after all. They're 25 seconds down now...

8km to go until the riders hit the Côte de Kårup Strandbakke, the final climb of the day.

125km to go

QuickStep, BikeExchange, Lotto with a man each at the head of the peloton.

40 seconds between Cort/Bystrøm and Barthe/Rolland.

Now Cort and Bystrøm tackle the third climb.

Cort beats Bystrøm to the top and raises his arms in celebration to the crowds.

Two days of suffering in this EF x Palace kit almost at an end for Cort.

The wind is waiting for the riders later on...

114km to go

Cort and Bystrøm continue a minute ahead of the B&B duo. Three minutes back to the peloton.

Now the hills are over and done with it's all flat roads from here on out.

1:35 between the leaders and the B&B pairing. 3:15 to the peloton.

Just over 30km to go until the riders reach the intermediate sprint.

Two hours down and the average has been 44kph.

A look at the dropped B&B pairing, who have now been brought back by the peloton after sitting up.

100km to go

Three minutes between Cort/Bystrøm and the peloton as the stage passes the halfway point.

It's still a mix of teams leading the peloton. QuickStep, BikeExchange, UAE, Jumbo are all up there.

The sprint squads are working to close the gap a little here. It's coming down slightly as the riders race along on the flat.

Our reporters Peter Stuart, Steven Farrand, and Patrick Fletcher are out on the road in Denmark. The wind is definitely blowing on the Great Belt Bridge...

86km to go

2:15 from the break to the peloton currently. 10km to go to the intermediate sprint.

It's down to 1:40 now as Cort and Bystrøm's advantage ebbs away.

Not long now until the riders hit the intermediate sprint. Expect to see the likes of Fabio Jakobsen, Wout van Aert, and Jasper Philipsen do battle in the sprint ahead of the expected sprint finish later on.

The gap is only coming down as the peloton speeds up on the approach to the sprint.

The wind is also blowing across the road now.

Ineos Grenadiers up at the front staying safe. TotalEnergies, Groupama-FDJ, and Bahrain also up there.

76km to go

Final kilometre before the sprint for Cort and Bystrøm. It's a downhill run and there are a few bends on the way there.

TotalEnergies lead the peloton.

Just 40 seconds for the break now.

Bystrøm leads Cort over the sprint uncontested.

Van Aert hits the front with Ewan on his wheel and it's the Australian who leads the peloton across the line. Sagan was next, with Laporte behind.

Jakobsen was behind Laporte. No Groenewegen and no Philipsen in the mix.

Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers up front now.

Ewan took 15 points there. Van Aert 13. Sagan 11. Laporte 10. Jakobsen 9.

70km to go

A bit calmer now. The peloton lies 30 seconds down on the break.

Our two remaining breakaway riders.

The wind is still blowing across the road here but it's not strong enough to provoke any team into action right now.

The peloton is spread across the road with Ineos, DSM, Lotto, TotalEnergies, FDJ, and Jumbo up front.

The pace is quite high now, though no one team is leading the peloton in the chase. 50 seconds up to the breakaway duo.

62km to go

Things are speeding up and calming down again. The peloton just raced towards a corner just in case there would be a winds high enough to cause a split on the other side.

Now 20 seconds for Cort and Bystrøm.

And now Bystrøm puts in an attack up front. He's going for the combativity award here.

Cort has let Bystrøm go here, though the Norwegian won't last too much longer up front.

A head/cross wind for the riders at the moment. When they reach the bridge it seems like it would be more of a headwind, though.

Things have slowed down once again in the peloton and Bystrøm now has 50 seconds.

Cort is back in the peloton now. Meanwhile Mads Pedersen suffers a puncture before getting going again.

54km to go

Still over 50 seconds for Bystrøm here. The peloton not in a rush to make the catch at the moment.

A look at the sprinters battling at the intermediate sprint earlier today.

Bystrøm heads into the final 50km with a 35-second advantage.

Jumbo, BikeExchange, Ineos leading the peloton. Still no action despite the wind from the side.

Ineos and TotalEnergies now prominent up front. Still no change in the situation.

45km to go

Bystrøm is now just 30 seconds up the road, though.

Aleksandr Vlasov stops with a puncture and gets a wheel change. Nils Politt stops to help him back to the peloton, though Vlasov has ridden past him.

This feels like one of those stages where everybody talks about the wind constantly only for nothing to happen.

Politt and Vlasov easily get back to the peloton. No worries.

41km to go

Crash in the peloton as Martijn Tusveld (DSM) and Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech) hit the deck.

Tusveld gets a bike change though he doesn't seem happy.

Bystrøm still hanging at just under 30 seconds up on the peloton.

Jumbo, Lotto, QuickStep, Ineos spread across the road at the head of the peloton.

Neilands back in the peloton after that crash.

35km to go

20 seconds for Bystrøm.

Now they're closing in on Bystrøm.

Chris Froome makes his way back to the peloton after some kind of issue held him up.

Bystrøm just 10 seconds up now and he's almost back in the peloton

31km to go

It's over for Bystrøm and everything is back together.

Jumbo, Lotto, QuickStep, FDJ, Ineos spread across the head of the peloton. Still no action yet.

Stefan Küng was caught on camera pushing Ruben Guerreiro's head while they were riding in the peloton. 

An offence like that falls under the 'Assault, intimidation, insults, threats, improper conduct (including pulling the jersey or saddle of another rider, blow with the helmet, knee, elbow, shoulder, foot or hand, etc.), or behaviour that is indecent or that endangers others' portion of the UCI regulations.

That offence carries a 100-1,000CHF fine, a 10-100 UCI points deduction, and possible DSQ by the commissaires.

25km to go

Still nothing going on in the race. Still the same teams up front in the peloton.

Crash in the peloton. Rigoberto Urán has stopped.

Kevin Vermaerke has hit the ground.

A couple of groups are off the rear of the peloton as a result of the crash.

21km to go

Vermaerke is back up and Urán is chasing.

Meanwhile the peloton hit the fabled bridge.

Will anything happen here? We've been waiting 180km for it.

18km of racing over the bridge.

Crash in the peloton and yellow jersey Yves Lampaert is down.

DSM's sprinter Alberto Dainese is down too. Michael Mørkøv also crashed.

19km to go

Not great news for Fabio Jakobsen there...

Lampaert begins his chase back to the peloton.

Lampaert reportedly 18 seconds down on the peloton as he chases.

17km to go

Lampaert and two teammates make it back in.

Bystrøm gets the combativity prize today, unsurprisingly.

The headwind on the bridge means there's been no action aside from the crashes.

Urán's group is still some way back. Michael Storer is in there, too.

1:18 between the peloton and Urán's group.

Urán has three teammates working with him.

13km to go

The riders reach the island in the middle of the bridge – well, two bridges. Still nothing going on at the front.

Now a minute for Urán's chase group.

It's very calm in the peloton at the moment.

11km to go

50 seconds now for Urán and co.

A shot of Lampaert getting going again after his crash on The Bridge™.

9km to go

EF keep chasing. 35 seconds down now.

EF and Urán get back on. Thrilling stuff on the bridge today.

Now we wait for the sprint finish.

7km to go

Not a particularly technical run-in over the final few kilometres. There's a right-left after the bridge and then a left-hander just inside the final kilometre.

QuickStep, Ineos, BikeExchange, Bahrain, FDJ spread across the road.

5km to go

No further incidents in the peloton as the riders approach the end of the bridge.

Alpecin-Fenix to the front to work for Philipsen. Jumbo-Visma are working for Van Aert. BikeExchange-Jayco are working for Groenewegen.

The peloton sweep around the left-right bends after the bridge.

3km to go

Bob Jungels crashes inside the final 3km.

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl take control And there's a huge pileup in the middle of the peloton!

That was right in the middle of the peloton and dozens are held up.

1.5km to go

QuickStep continue to lead.

Five QuickStep men up front.

Intermarché and BikeExchange fighting for position too.

1km to go

Lampaert on the front now.

All ok around the left-hand bend onto the finishing straight.

It's a mess at the front inside the final 600m.

Now it's Trek-Segafredo for Pedersen!

Van Aert vs Pedersen and Jakobsen to the line!

And it's Jakobsen who takes the win!

Fabio Jakobsen with his first career Tour de France stage win. Two out of two for QuickStep-AlphaVinyl so far.

Van Aert took second place plus the six bonus seconds and now leads the Tour de France.

Tadej Pogačar rolls home at over three minutes down after a puncture late on.

Groups of other riders roll home after being held up in the crash.

Jakobsen celebrates after taking victory in Nyborg.

Danny van Poppel finished fourth while Jasper Philipsen took fifth.

Disappointing results for Groenewegen, Kristoff, and Ewan. They take eighth, 11th, and 13th.

Here's what Jakobsen had to say about today...

"Today is incroyable. For me it was a long process step by step. A lot of people helped me along the way. This is to pay them back so they can see it was not for nothing. I'm happy I still enjoy riding the bike and racing and luckily I can still win. It's an amazing day and I'd like to thank all the people that helped me to here.

"The team kept me in a good position in front when we exited from the bridge with the right-left combination and then the final straight. I could stay behind Morkov. He dropped me in the wheel of Van Aert. In the last few hundred metres I was on the left next to Sagan, we touched but luckily we stayed upright. There was a final stretch of 150 metres where I could launch and pass the other two.

"When I tell it like this it sounds easy but for sure the legs were in pain. This is what we train for, this is why we race. A stage of the Tour de France is what I've been dreaming about for 15 years."

A look back at the final kilometre of today's stage...

The new Tour de France leader, Wout van Aert

Check out our report on the second stage of the Tour de France here

Van Aert keeps the points lead but he'll be wearing yellow tomorrow.

Magnus Cort is in polka dots after his efforts in the break, meanwhile.

And Tadej Pogačar is in the white best young rider's jersey.

Sven Erik Bystrøm is the most combative rider of the day, as expected.

That's all for our live coverage of today's second stage.

Stay tuned for news and reaction from the day from our reporters on the ground including Pogačar, Van Aert, Jakobsen, Lefevere, and more...