As it happened: Lafay takes Tour de France stage 2 win as Pogačar steals seconds

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of the Tour de France 2023!

Stage two will be another hilly day in the Basque Country which, much like yesterday, is expected to draw out more massive crowds, as well as more racing between the GC favourites. For more information, be sure to read our preview

Adam Yates is clearly someone who loves riding in this part of the world. Back in 2015, he claimed the breakthrough result of his career by winning the Clásica de San Sebastián, and yesterday, he enjoyed what was probably the greatest day of his career by winning the opening stage of the Tour de France and taking the yellow jersey.

He’ll therefore be happy to see the same climb that is the centrepiece of San Sebastián, the Jaizkibel, on the menu today. The climb is the last of five tackled today, and, situated just 16.5km from the finish, looks set to be the stage’s pivotal moment.

There are two striking differences between today’s finish and yesterday’s. At 8.1km, the Jaizkibel is much longer than yesterday’s Côte de Pike; and there is a longer run-in of 16.5km from its top to the finish, compared with 9.5km yesterday.

It could therefore be a different kind of rider (more steady rather than explosive) who make it to the finish to contest the stage, while the run-in gives more time for the peloton to catch any escapees like the Yates brothers on stage one. 

The riders have just set off and are working their way through the neutralised zone. The official start will be in around ten minutes

Stage two will set off with two riders less than the number that began yesterday, following the abandonments of Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz. Although there were less crashes than we’ve seen in previous Tour de France openers, the two victims were high-profile leaders of their teams who were both hoping to push for a podium finish, and whose absence will be keenly felt in the peloton

At a smidge under 209km, this will be the longest stage of the 2023 Tour de France. Not quite the mammoth slog of Tours gone by, but it will be taxing on the legs nonetheless

The start has been delayed slightly as we wait for Stan Dewulf to make his way back up to the peloton after a puncture

208.9KM TO GO

And they're off! Will there be more of a battle this time to get into the breakaway than yesterday?

Victor Campanaerts is the first rider to try his luck, just as he was yesterday. No gaps for him or anyone else yet though

Anthony Turgis, Magnus Cort, Pascal Eekhoorn and Anthony Perez have a small gap over the peloton

They’ve been joined by Mads Pedersen. That seems like a surprise, until you realise there’s an intermediate sprint just 40-or-so kilometres into the stage. He could make real inroads in the green jersey classification if this break stays away until then

Four more riders joined that group, but it's now been shut down by Jumbo-Visma

Apparently Carlos Roriguez was one of the riders in that previous move, which would explain why Jumbo-Visma were eager to shut it down. The young Spanaird was Ineos’ highest finisher yesterday, and a legitimate GC threat

200KM TO GO

Edvald Boasson Hagen and King of the Mountains Neilson Powless are up the road with a small gap

Remi Cavagna has joined them, and is using his time trial engine to help build their gap

It looked for a moment like that would be it, with the peloton slowing down, but three riders have jumped out of it in pursuit: Victor Campanaerts, Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen

That move went nowhere however, with Philipsen only there to mark Pedersen rather than try to get into the break

Now that really does look like it’s done. The peloton are spread across the road and nobody is trying to jump out of it

The trio’s lead is already up to 1-15. It looks like we have our day’s break

So today’s break will consist of Edvald Boasson Hagen, Neilson Powless and Remi Cavagna. A small group, but one that’s undoubtedly powerful 

190KM TO GO

UAE Team Emirates have taken control of the peloton in the service of Adam Yates in the yellow jersey, and they’re content to set a slow pace. The gap is already up to two minutes

Here's the leaders of the three major classifications at the start of the stage: Simon Yates in green, brother Adam in yellow, and Powless in polka-dot-jersey, who's in the break today

No question of any tension between the Yates brothers after yesterday's finish. Here they are smiling together this morning

180KM TO GO

The trio's lead is up to 3-55. The peloton are clearly taking it easy - that's bigger than any lead the break managed at any point during stage one

Powless is only 1-42 down on GC, so is currently the virtual yellow jersey. 

Bike change for Bora-Hansrgohe’s Patrick Konrad. The pace is slow enough for his trip back to the peloton to be very simple

170KM TO GO

The break's lead is now up to 4-30

The break has just reached the intermediate sprint, with Boasson Hagen taking the maximum points. 

It was uncontested between the trio but that won’t be the case in the peloton. With just three riders in the break, there are lots of points available for green jersey candidates in the peloton, with a maximum of 13 for whoever wins the sprint for 4th.

The sprinters teams are moving to the front of the peloton in anticipation. There is a long line of Jayco-AlUla moving Dylan Groenewegan into the right position

Lidl-Trek’s Quinn Simmons is leading the peloton out for Mads Pedersen

Sam Welsford wins the sprint for 4th. It was a competitive one with green jersey hopefuls spread all across the road sprinting fo points

Welsford did not score any points in yesterday's intermediate sprint, but going for the sprint today suggests he’s here to look for points and try to survive to the end of the Tour rather than just sprint wins, on what is his Grand Tour debut.

It actually turns out Jasper Philipsen just edged Welsford in the intermediate sprint. Here's a full run-down of the result

1. Edvald Boasson Hagen, 20 pts

2. Rémi Cavagna, 17 pts

3. Neilson Powless, 15 pts

4. Jasper Philipsen, 13 pts

5. Sam Welsford, 11 pts

6. Bryan Coquard, 10 pts

7. Biniam Girmay, 9 pts

8. Mads Pedersen, 8 pts

9. Mark Cavendish, 7 pts

10. Dylan Groenewegen, 6 pts

11. Alexander Kristoff, 5 pts

12. Jordi Meeus, 4 pts

13. Peter Sagan, 3 pts

14. Jonas Abrahamsen, 2 pts

15. Caleb Ewan, 1 pt

Once again there is no sign of Wout van Aert in the mix. Clearly the Belgian is indeed not making a defence of his green jersey title a priority

160KM TO GO

The gap is now holding steady. The peloton allowed it to go up to four minutes, but have now pegged it at around 4-20

The breakaway is currently descending following an uncategorised climb. Boasson Hagen looks less comfortable than the other two, and a small gap has opened up between them

Seeing as they made the effort to get up the road on such a long day, let’s take a moment to talk about the three riders in the break

Edvald Boasson Hagen is an absolute veteran of Tours de France, taking place in his thirteenth edition, and his ninth in succession. In that time he’s won three stages, and from a variety of different situations: once from a bunch sprint, as he is best known for, but also twice via solo attack from breakaways

Remi Cavagna is a mainstay of breakaways. A time trial specialist who has been a national champion and European silver medalist, he’s nicknamed the TGV for his big engine in relation to the French railway service. 

He’s won a stage of the Vuelta a Espana in 2019, but never at his home Tour de France. He certainly has the talent to do so, even if today will be a long shot.

Neilson Powless has more objectives today than just hoping the break survives and winning the stage. After taking the lead in the mountains classification yesterday, he has a polka-dot jersey to defend, and is sure to extend his lead on the upcoming climbs today.

The American already has a good track record in the Basque Country, too, winning the San Sebastian classics in 2021 And he’s also not a rider that can be discounted as a GC threat: last year he finished 12th overall, and has backed that up with sixth place at Paris-Nice earlier this year along with top tens at the Milan-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders monuments

135KM TO GO

Not much happening on the road at the moment. The gap has grown to just under five minutes

The weather’s taken a turn for the worst, and it’s started drizzling. Shouldn’t come as a surprise in this part of the world, but will cause some trepidation in the peloton nonetheless

After a gentle opening, the  break is climbing properly for the first time today. They’re on the category three Col d'Udana

500 metres till the top of the climb. Will the other two let Powless roll over to take the points?

Yes they will. That was very simple for Powless who adds another two points to his tally uncontested

There will only be a short descent before they start climbing the next obstacle, Côte d'Aztiria. It’s a category four, so only one more point for Powless to add

That drizzle we mentioned earlier never materialised to much, and conditions are dry, albeit with some ominously grey clouds hanging over the race

Just 1km until the break reach the top of the climb

They're at the top, and Powless takes the point uncontested once again. Now comes a long descent followed by some undulating roads, before the next categorised climb 68km from the finish

120KM TO GO

UAE Team Emirates have continued to lead the peloton over the past two climbs, and their pace has seen the gap come down to 3-30. Although this seems like a lot of work early in the Tour for a team that’s playing the long game to win the yellow jersey, they may feel obliged to work due to the presence of Powless in the break

There's been another great turnout on the roadside by the Basquq fans, with countless sightings of their Ikurrina flag

110KM TO GO

Almost halfway through the stage, and the trio's lead is about four minutes over the UAE-led peloton. Most of the work has been done by the team's rouleurs, Mikkel Bjerg and Vegard Stake Laengen

Mechanical for Wout van Aert in the peloton. He'll be grateful for getting his bad luck out the way with now rather than during the business end of the stage

100KM TO GO

The race is still in a holding pattern, with UAE still leading the peloton, and the leading trio maintaining a lead of around 4-30. We'll likely have to wait until the final climbs for things to heat up

The Basque Country really is a beautiful part of the world. Here’s an illustration of just how green it is around here

Stage three of the Giro Donne has just finished - we won’t spoil the result here, but you can read our report

The riders are on an unclassified rise, and the pace appears to be up in the peloton. It’s still UAE leading, and the group is all strung out in single file

The break has been descending that uncategorised climb. The heavens haven’t opened today, but the roads here are noticeably a little damp.

Talk of the devil, Alexander Edmondson has just gone down going through a damp patch around a corner in the peloton. It wasn’t a heavy fall, and he’s back on his bike looking fine, but it is a warning sign for what could happen

A lot of words being exchanged between the UAE riders at the front of the peloton. The pace is down and riders are using the chance to take comfort breaks, so maybe they’re discussing taking things easy on these wet roads

Another unofficial climb now being ridden up by the break. They must be beginning to tire having spent so much time out front with just the three of them

What’s Victor Campanaerts up to? He spent a few moments just off the front of the peloton, before allowing himself to be submerged again. He was the first rider to attack at the start of the day, but isn’t about to to go on a kamikaze mission to make up the 3-19 to the breakaway on his own

The pace is up again in the peloton, as is clear from the sight of some riders being jettisoned out the back. Mark Cavendish is one such rider, accompanied by two Astana teammates

80KM TO GO

The gap is also tumbling on this unclassified climb. It’s suddenly come down to just 2-30

UAE Team Emirates are still being very vocal with one another in the peloton. Matteo Trentin is discussing something with Mikkel Bjerg, although it’s unclear about what exactly. 

Some more raindrops can be spotted on the TV moto camera lens. Fingers crossed everyone stays upright, and it’s still only light rainfall, but there are going to be quite a lot of downhill kilometres during this final 75km to worry about

We’re about to start climbing again, and this time a rise the organisers have deemed hard enough to be classified as such. It’s the category three Côte d'Alkiza, and might seen an intensity to the racing in the peloton

Cavagna’s struggling on the climb. He’s been distanced by Powless an Hagen

A sizable gap has opened up, too. He faces a battle to catch them up even on the following descent

A messy coming together in the peloton. No riders hit the deck, thankfully, but several had to dismount, including Alexey Lutsenko, Jai Hindley, Carlos Rodriguez and a number of his Ineos teammates

70KM TO GO

UAE are again upping the pace a little on the climb. The gap to the two leaders has just dipped below two minutes for the first time in a long while

There are more casualties in the peloton from UAE’s pace, including sprinters Fabio Jakobsen, Sem Welsford and Dylan Groenewegen

Cavagna sat up shortly after being dropped, and has just been swallowed up by the peloton. That's unlikely to be the last we see of the Frenchman this Tour, who should play a role in Jakobsen's sprint train, as well as eye up more brekaway oppertunities - and of course the Tour's sole time trial

Meanwhile the two surviving escapees have just reached the top of the climb, with Powless securing another two points

You sense there are some nerves in the peloton about this upcoming descent As they climb over the top of the climb, there’s some jostling for position to be as close to the safest point at the front of the group

UAE preserved their position at the front and are leading the descent, with Jumbo-Visma riders line-up behind them. No problems for anyone so far

60KM TO GO

Each time the riders have stopped climbing, the gap has grown again, and that’s happened once more with the duo’s lead back up to 2-15

Matteo Trentin is now leading the peloton for UAE. The team has lost one rider, Vegard Stake Laengen, who was dropped earlier.

Trentin’s gone down. The other UAE riders are all looking behind to see where he is, but he’s still out the back waiting to get a new bike

Trentin’s got a bike and is back on it, chasing up to the peloton. He doesn’t appear to be too hurt

There’s a little while until the next climb, and the penultimate of the day, the Côte de Gurutze. It won’t be climbed for another 25km or so, but the duo’s lead of 2-15 should be enough to see them stay out ahead until it and for Powless to therefore claim another point

50KM TO GO

Two-thirds into the stage now, and it's still UAE leading the peloton, keeping the gap at 2-10

Vegard Stake Laengen is back in the peloton and on the front again for UAE. He’s enjoying himself too, having a laugh with his teammates after they lost his wheel for a few moments

Wheel change for Alex Zingle in the peloton. The young Frenchman was a dark horse for a good result yesterday following some high placings at the Dauphine, but instead it was his teammate Victor Lafay who was the day’s surprise package

Cavagna is paying for his efforts working in the breakaway. He’s now going out the back of the peloton

40KM TO GO

Just a few kilometres now until the start of the penultimate climb. The break's lead of two minutes is likely to start tumbling. Powless and Hagen are strong riders, but surely they don't have a chance of staying out to compete for the stage win

Crash in the peloton, about 4 or 5 riders going down. Ben O’Connor is involved, but unclear if he went down or was just held up

Jonas Vingegaard also had a puncture around the same time, but he was not involved in the crash

The other riders involved in the crash appear to have been Max Van Gils, Matthew Dinham and Jasper De Buyst

Meanwhile in the break, Powless dropped Hagen on that climb, and has just crested the summit to take another point in the KOM competition

Vingegaard has been helped back into the peloton by Nathan Van Hooydonck without any snags. No worries for Jumbo-Visma

Ben O’Connor is also safely back in the peloton. That was another scare for his GC ambitions, which already took a small hit yesterday when he was dropped on the final climb

30KM TO GO 

Powless hasn’t given up yet, but he’s really up against it now. Hagen hasn’t caught back up to him so he’s on his own, while the race is now very much on in the peloton as they approach the crucial final climb

Jumbo-Visma and Lidl-Trek are now in formation at the front of the road, and other teams are battling for the prime spots too. The start of the Jaizkibel is just a few kilometres away

Boasson Hagen’s just been caught by the peloton. That leaves just Powless out in front, but his catch isn’t yet imminent: the peloton still has 1-45 to make up

You can sense the anticipation in the peloton as they approach the final climb. There are so many colours at the front of the group representing the many different teams fighting for the prime real estate

Powless has begun the climb. While making it to the finish is unlikely, he could still claim more KOM points at the top - and with five on offer, it’s worth digging deep for

Now the peloton are on the climb, and Jumbo-Visma have won the fight to lead onto it. Vingegaard is second wheel behind his teammate, and Pogacar is poised on his wheel

One rider who won't be winning the stage today is Mathieu van der Poel: the Dutchman sat up immediately, clearly not fancying his chances of surviving such a long climb

Powless’ lead is already down to under a minute, and he still has over 6km to climb. It's going to be tough for him to make it to the top still in the lead

Jayco-AlUla have now taken over in the peloton. Does Simon plan to depose his brother and take the yellow jersey from him today?

Chris Harper is the Jayco rider leading the peloton. UAE’s Maijka is on his wheel, followed by Pogacar, the yellow jersey of Adam Yates, and Vingegaard

Lutsenko is one of the riders dropped under Harper's pace, like he was yesterday

As well as being a launchpad for the stage win and potential GC moves, this climb also has significance as there are bonus second available at the top. Expect a real fight from the GC men

UAE now take over from Jayco. Maijka is leading with Pogacar on his weel

20KM TO GO

Just 10 seconds now for Powless. He's about to be caught...

That’s it, Powless has been swallowed by the Majka-led peloton. A fine effort for the American, and he will wear the polka-dot jersey tomorrow

It’s still a sizable peloton, with no GC riders dropped. Van Aert is still there, but has slipped down a little from his Jumbo-Visma teammates. Is he finding this long climb too hard?

Now splits are forming from Maijka’s pace, and Pinot is dropped! He looked so good yesterday, but clearly doesn’t have the same legs here. 

Alaphilippe has also been dropped

There are maybe about 30 riders left in the peloton

Still Majka leads. Just 1km to the summit. Who will be the first to attack?

Even if there are no attacks, there’s bound to be a sprint for the summit due to the bonus seconds available. 500m left

Adam Yates moves to the front, Pogacar on his wheel.

Simon Yates starts the sprint…

Vingegaard comes past him, and he and Pogacar take part in a two-up sprint, with Pogacar coming out just on top. Simon Yates took the final bonuses in third

Pogacar and Vingegaard are now out along and have a big gap. As was the case yesterday though, Vingegaard doesn’t look interested in working with him

Pogacar is still riding though. You can just about see Smon Yates and a few others in the distance, but it’s a real gap - of 14 seconds to be precise 

Wout van Aert is one of those riders with Simon Yates in the chasing group. Vingegaard won't work with Pogacar, in order to give his teammate a chance of winning the stage

13km to the finish, and Pogacar an Vingegaard’s lead is down to 7 seconds. This is going to come back together soon, but how many riders are left in that chasing group?

Quite a lot, it seems: it has swelled on this descent to what looks like about 20 riders

12KM TO GO

The catch has been made. Time for the riders in this group to take stock and decide if they want to attack, or wait for the sprint

Given the presence of Wout van Aert, anyone who wants the stage will probably have to attack

Other riders in the group include: Bilbao (who’s leading on the descent), Pidcock, Landa, Skjelmose, Bardet, Cicconne, Simon Yates, Adam Yates, Lafay…

Just 10km to go. It's still anyone's race if they can attack and get a gap

Bilbao is using his notorious descending skills to get a bit of a gap over the others. What a popular winner he would be in his home region

Some more riders in this group: Teuns, Crass, Bernal, Gaudu, Buchmann, Haig, Kelderman

Jumbo still have numbers, unsurprisingly, and are putting them to work to bring back Bilbao and keep things controlled for a sprint for Van Aert

6m to go and Bilbao has a chance. His lead is a few seconds

A big turn from Tiesj Benoot has shut down Bilbao’s move, sadly for the home fans. 5.5km to go

Ben O’Connor and Louis Meintjes aren’t in this lead group. They’re somewhere further back chasing

Buchmann has tried an attack, but has been brought back. His teammate and leader Hindley is in the group too

There are three Jumbo riders working for Van Aert. It’s his stage to lose

3km to go. This looks set to be a sprint between this group of about 25 riders

Or is it? Pidcock has attacked

Van Aert's on his wheel though and shuts the move down

Skjelmose counter attacks!

Yet again Van Aert covers the move. He has to be careful not to burn up too many matches

Keldmeran retakes control of the group for Jumbo-Visma. 1.5km to go

1KM TO GO

Lafay attacks under the flamme rouge, and he has a gap!

He has a few seconds over the Kelderman-led chase

Van Aert starts his sprint early

But not early enough, as Lafay wins!

A historic moment for Cofidis, who at last break their barren streak at the Tour de France with a first stage win since the 2008 edition

Van Aert looks furious, and slammed his handlebars while crossing the line, just around a bikelength beind Lafay

Pogacar finished just behind him in the sprint to gain third-place

That's going Lafay a bit of a disservice: on closer inspection he's won by a few bike-lengths

Despite missing out on the bonus second at both the intermediate sprint and the finish line, Adam Yates still defends the yellow jersey. There’s a change behind him, however, as his teammate Pogacar overtakes his brother Simon to move up to second-place

The group that contested that final sprint was 24-strong and contained most of GC contenders, with a few notable absentees. Ben O’Connor, Louis Meintjes and Guillaume Martin all arrived in a group that finished 58 seconds behind.

Thibaut Pinot, meanwhile, lost 2-25

Dani Martinez lost another 7 minutes, having also struggled yesterday. He clearly won’t be a GC option for Ineos this year

His win today also means that Victor Lafay will wear the green jersey tomorrow. He leads the classification by 23 seconds ahead of Pogacar

As previously mentioned Powless will wear the polka-dot jersey, while for the umpteenth successive day Pogacar leads the young riders classification, meaning he’ll wear white.

Here's what the triumphant Lafay had to say, on what is the easily the biggest da of his career to date:

“I just looked at the line, and at the numbers at the side of the road, it was 100 metres, 50 metres and eventually I had it. It’s a little but unbelievable. Yesterday I was frustrated with the finish. It’s crazy.”

“Today I didn’t like the tempo, the speed was up all day, and I had a bit of a problem with my gut.

“What was sure is that people would attack on that little climb at the finish.

“I just waited for the moment for the bunch to slow down and I hit it from behind, put it in the aero tuck. There was some hesitation because I’m not here for the GC, just here for the stage.

“Yesterday when I was with them [Vingegaard and Tadej] and it didn't work out for me but today it was the opposite because both riders were looking at each other it was easier for me to go to the finish. I noticed that Jumbo-Visma had done a huge amount of work today and they were most likely going to be tired to chase me in the final kilometre.”

To relive a distilled version of the stage, be sure to read our report

Here's Adam Yates:

"A really hectic day, a lot of stress in the bunch, wet roads and a lot of road furniture. We made it through. We had a little bit of bad luck with Matteo [Trentin] crashing in the corner. We controlled all day, nobody wanted to help us. In the end we set up Tadej for the bonus seconds and in the final, I think we did a good job. It all depended on the bonus seconds and the final - if Tadej won the bonus and the stage he would have beaten me, but we kept it with the team. 

"It's not easy - for sure we have to control some more days. Tomorrow's a little easier on paper, but you never know with the Tour de France. Every day is super hard, super technical, it's not just easy to go to the finish and keep yellow. We'll see what happens."

This has been an electrifying start to the 2023 Tour de France. Tomorrow might not feature the same number of hills to draw the GC contenders out, but it promises all the thrills and spills of a bunch sprint finish - with a certain Mark Cavendish on the cusp of history. Be sure to join us again