It was nothing but a dominant performance by Jumbo-Visma. Although they had some energy burnt in Dumoulin and Kruijsiwjk that effort payed off as Wout van Aert went through the rugged terrain of the opening stage with ease and was taken to the finish in perfect position where he took the win and the first yellow jersey, followed by Impey and Bernal.
Positive: Bernal did good, Jumbo attacked several times but in the end INEOS' leader is the one who got some time, surely not what the killer wasps had planned. Impey was also very close to the win.
Negative: Alaphilippe was there all along but didn't show his typical sharpness, perhaps a bad day.
The Route
Stage 2 is already on the doors of the Alps, the riders will go from the longest to the shortest stage but this is one where raids or surprise attacks aren't possible. The stage rolls along in a transition, the Côte Maillet (5.9Km at 7.9%) will warm up the riders for what's to come just outside of Grenoble when the peloton will tackle the Col de Porte.
This final climb is 16.6Km long at an average of 6.2% but it's quite deceiving as there's a very significant descending section in the first part of the climb, the first section is at 10% for over 2Km and the final 11.5Km are at 8%. It's a HARD climb!
The Weather
A lot of heat and some southern wind, not strong but with some strong gusts, will give a little bit of a tailwind in that final climb.
The Favourites
With today in mind one can only assume Jumbo is going to drill it again tomorrow. Maybe not the best of strategies, but they are full of confidence and full of riders in flying form. Roglic himself showed agressive today, but I reckon he won't attack tomorrow, before the final kilometer at least, because Bernal is also looking very sharp. Dumoulin and Kruijswijk are going to have some freedom to attack whilst Kuss, Gesink and WVA will for sure pace the first kilometers of the climb. This is going to be a nuclear climb, everyone will be put to the limit very early on for sure and so everyone will be fighting to hold wheels for sure. That will favour Roglic if it happens whilst not so much for INEOS, Thomas is looking better than in l'Ain and alongside Sivakov they will provide great support for Bernal I'm sure, as will the rest of the team honestly as there's no weak spot in there.
Then there's... Honestly ain't easy writing all this because there is so so much quality in the field yet I'm writing them all off as just outsiders. I think I'll make a list of everyone who can take the win all the way through to Top10 contenders and their best domestiques:
Romain Bardet (Latour);
Miguel Angel Lopez (Lutsenko);
Pierre Rolland;
Mikel Landa (Bilbao - Caruso - Valls - Teuns);
Emanuel Buchmann (Muhlberger - Grossschartner - Kamna);
Fausto Masnada;
Guillaume Martin;
Julian Alaphilippe;
Sergio Higuita/Rigoberto Uran (Carthy - Martinez);
Thibaut Pinot (Reichenbach - Madouas);
Daniel Martin;
Adam Yates (Haig);
Alejandro Valverde (Mas - Soler);
Domenico Pozzovivo;
Nairo Quintana (Barguil - Rosa - Anacona);
Tiesj Benoot (Roche);
Richie Porte (Elissonde);
Tadej Pogacar (Formolo - Polanc - De la Cruz)
There, short list isn't it? Now some of these names may be targeting a win, some the podium, some the Top5, others the Top10, some may just be testing their legs and aren't putting pressure on themselves, some are "starting" out their season in the Dauphiné itself. And of course, some of these names won't be near the front at all, but all of them must be considered until we see what they do tomorrow. The KOM classification and 3 more rough Alpine stages will give some opportunities for those who have a bad day tomorrow.
Prediction Time
⭐ Buchmann, A.Yates, Uran, Porte, MA.Lopez, Higuita, Sivakov, Dumoulin
Let's go for Roglic. Today I went bold and had Cavagna who looked so good, but safe thinking usually works and I should've used my brain over my heart. So for tomorrow I'll do the same, let's see what Rogla can do.
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