As It Happened: Uphill sprint sees the best riders in the world come to the fore on stage 2 of the Tour de France

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 2 of the 2025 Tour de France.

There is just over an hour to go until the longest stage of the 2025 Tour de France gets underway, with the neutralised start set to take place at 12:15 local time in Lauwin-Planque.

Here's a look at today's stage profile. The longest stage of the race with some short, sharp climbs in the finale to test the fatigued legs of the riders. This is set to be a day for the puncheurs.

Rainy conditions in Lauwin-Planque mean that it will be a wet start for the riders today. The wind in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region is keeping at bay for now, but is set to pick up later in the stage as the riders approach the finish at Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The map shows the route the riders will take on today's stage, as they wind their way along the coast in the run-in towards the finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The last time the Tour de France finished in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Peter Sagan dominated the uphill sprint to the line to win the stage, beating the likes of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Fabian Cancellara.

The first images of today's start in Lauwin-Planque have begun to come through, with most of the riders looking suitably glum in this weather.

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The start has been delayed due to a traffic jam caused by the race convoy coming into Lauwin-Planque. The neutralised start will now take place at 12:30 local time.

Could today be an opportunity for Wout van Aert to take his tenth stage win at the Tour de France? Or will he have to fall into a domestique role to keep Jonas Vingegaard safe in the technical run-in to Boulogne-sur-Mer?

The riders have rolled out for the neutralised start in Lauwin-Planque to begin this 209.1km-long stage

A quick look at yesterday's results as we get underway for today's stage. Jasper Philipsen is unlikely to hang on to the overall lead, leaving the maillot jaune up for grabs in Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The flag has dropped and stage 2 of the Tour de France 2025 is underway!

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto and Uno-X Mobility are the teams attempting to get riders up the road. The rain jackets are making it rather difficult to identify the riders in the leading move at the moment.

Brent Van Moer (Lotto), Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) are the four riders up the road and they have already been given a gap of more than two minutes by the peloton. Van Moer is the only one of them to pose a vague threat to the maillot jaune at 49 seconds down in the general classification.

All of the leader's jerseys present and correct at the start today in Lauwin-Planque.

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Tour de France Stage 2 - 190km to go

A mechanical for Nelson Oliveira at the back of the peloton has left him off the back after a slow rear wheel change. Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarché-Wanty are currently setting the pace in the main bunch, with a gap of around two and a half minutes to the breakaway.

The race is currently passing through the town of Arras, with Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) swapping turns on the front of the peloton with Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty).

A nice moment between former teammates Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendish at the start today.

The rain has begun to stop and the riders in the breakaway have started to remove their jackets, allowing Fedorov and Leknessund to display their national champion jerseys for the first time today.

Crash in the breakaway for Yevgeniy Fedorov and Andreas Leknessund. Fedorov was the first to go down through a wet left-hand corner, which caused Leknessund to brake hard and slide out. The pair are working together to get back to the front and are currently around half a minute down Bruno Armirail and Brent Van Moer.

Fedorov and Leknessund have now rejoined Armirail and Van Moer at the head of the race, but the breakaway has lost around 20 seconds to the peloton after that crash.

Tour de France Stage 2 - 130km to go

There has been somewhat of a lull in the stage, as Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarché-Wanty are continuing to keep the breakaway in check at a gap of around two and a half minutes.

After a wet start to the day, the sun is now shining and the maillot jaune is on full display on the back of Jasper Philipsen. The Belgian rider has gone all out on the equipment for today, with yellow skinsuit, bike, sunglasses, gloves and bottles.

Andreas Leknessund is currently chasing back on to the breakaway after suffering a puncture. It has not been the Norwegian National Champion's day, having crashed earlier in the stage.

Leknessund is back with the breakaway and the four-man leading group are continuing to work well together. Their advantage over the peloton is currently just under two and a half minutes.

A crash for Alexis Renard saw him fall into a ditch at the side of the road. It seems that he had a rather soft landing, but his bike does not look to be in the best condition. Fortunately, no other riders in the peloton seemed to be affected by the crash.

The breakaway are now on the slopes of the category four Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin (1.1km at 5.9%). It will be interesting to see which of the four riders attempt to grab the solitary point at the summit.

Bruno Armirail launched the sprint at the summit of the Côte de Cavron-Saint-Martin, but it was Andreas Leknessund who took the point ahead of Brent Van Moer. The Norwegian National Champion now moves into joint-second place with Jonas Vingegaard in the mountains classification.

A small crash in the peloton saw Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) and Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) caught up at the back of the main bunch, but both riders are now back underway.

Another crash in the peloton. Eddie Dunbar is down again along with Fred Wright and several riders from Lotto, including Lennert Van Eetvelt and Jenno Berckmoes.

All riders are now back on their bikes after that crash, but Van Eetvelt has sustained a nasty bit of grazing on his left elbow. He has two teammates and Fred Wright around him, with a gap of around a minute and a half to the peloton.

The Lotto trio are now back onto the rear of peloton after a fairly long chase back. Meanwhile, Fred Wright is at the medical car getting his injuries seen to by the race doctor.

The gap to breakaway is now starting to come down, as the peloton has reduced their advantage to around a minute and a half. The pace is being set by Alpecin-Deceuninck, who have honoured the maillot jaune throughout the stage.

More bad luck for Lotto, as Arnaud De Lie has suffered a mechanical at the back of the peloton, causing some riders to unclip from their pedals. Looks as though it was just a dropped chain for the Belgian rider and he is now back on his bike.

A few more teams are beginning to move to the front of the peloton, as Alpecin-Deceuninck have now been joined by UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Soudal Quick-Step and Visma-Lease a Bike in setting the pace in the main bunch.

The riders are now approaching the intermediate sprint and the pace in the peloton has gone up considerably, with Lidl-Trek and Groupama-FDJ now joining those teams at the front of the main bunch. There is a slightly exposed zone coming up and everyone wants to be in good position to not get caught out. The gap to the breakaway is now down to under a minute.

Currently a fifteeen-second gap to the breakaway as they pass through the intermediate sprint, with Yevgeniy Fedorov takes the maximum points ahead Leknessund and Van Moer.

There was some hand waving and gesturing from Jonathan Milan after the intermediate sprint, with the Italian rider directing his frustration towards Biniam Girmay. Milan took the maximum remaining points ahead of Tim Merlier.

The breakaway have now been caught and the peloton is beginning the run-in towards the final three categorised climbs of the stage, the first of which is the Côte du Haut Pichot (1.1km at 9.4%) with 30km to go.

Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has returned to the back of the peloton after a mechanical issue. As the peloton approaches the finale, riders will want to avoid any unwanted problems if they are stay in contention for the stage.

A sudden increase in pace in the peloton has seen Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike come to the fore in the main bunch, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Groupama-FDJ also up towards the front.

Wout van Aert and Tim Wellens have moved to the front on the Côte du Haut Pichot, keeping Jonas Vingegaard andTadej Pogačar well-positioned in the bunch.

A small crash in the peloton has seen Jonathan Milan and Geraint Thomas caught up on the Côte du Haut Pichot. A split has opened up as they come over the summit, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG pushing the pace. Tim Wellens took the maximum points with Pogačar and Vingegaard sitting in his wheel.

The peloton has come back together and all of the favourites' teams have moved back to the front of the bunch. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG are currently driving the pace.

As they head towards the exposed roads along the coast, gusts blowing in from sea and wind speeds of around 25km/h could cause splits, with all of the teams wanting to keep their riders well-positioned at the front of the bunch.

The riders are now approaching the foot of the Côte de Saint-Étienne-au-Mont (1km at 10.6%), which is immediately followed by the Côte d'Outreau (0.8km at 8.8%). Both climbs come in the final 10km of the stage and could be decisive in determining the winner.

The favourites' teams have somewhat disappeared, as Tudor Pro Cycling, EF Education-EasyPost and Groupama-FDJ are now leading the peloton into the penultimate climb of the day.

Groupama-FDJ have practically done a sprint leadout and the peloton is now splitting on the slopes of the penultimate climb. The favourites have now come to the fore, as Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel are now at the front, along with Mathieu van der Poel, Matteo Jorgenson and a selection of others.

The riders are onto the final categorised climb of the Côte d'Outreau. Some riders have come back to the front of the race as others begin to fall into difficulty.

Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) attacks over the top of the climb, but is quickly closed down. Vingegaard then counter-attacks with Pogačar and Evenepoel immediately in his wheel.

Vauquelin has attacked again, followed by Jorgenson and Alexey Lutsenko, but João Almeida closes down the move for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Pogačar is sat in perfect position on the wheel of his teammate Almeida, with Vingegaard also in the wheel.

Julian Alaphilippe attacks, followed instantly by Mathieu van der Poel.

Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 2 of the Tour de France

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider takes the victory ahead of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard to move into the overall lead, taking the maillot jaune from his teammate Jasper Philipsen.

A strong display from Tadej Pogačar in the sprint sees him get the better of Jonas Vingegaard in their first head-to-head of the race, but all of the focus will be on Mathieu van der Poel after a dominant performance.

Tour de France Stage 2 - Results

Mathieu van der Poel post-race interview

"It was super difficult. The final was actually harder than I thought," said Van der Poel. "I was really motivated. Finally, it's been four years since I won my first stage on the Tour de France, so it was about time I won a second one."

"Of course, people put me as a favourite, but if you see which riders were in front on the climbs, I think I did a really good job to be there," he continued.

When asked if he thought that his teammate Jasper Philipsen would be able to hold on to the finish, he said "they predicted headwind on the climbs, so I thought that he would have a chance, but the climbs were harder than I expected."

"It was a really hard pace as well. You saw on the second-to-last climb already, there were maybe eight guys left at the top. It was just a really hard day and a nervous day again," the Dutchman stated.

On his Alpecin-Deceuninck team winning two stages in two days, he said "it's a dream for the team in the first two days. Everything that comes now is just a bonus."