Tour de France 2025 Stage 2 LIVE - Mathieu Van der Poel pips Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard to the line in thrilling finish

Imagine the size of his... hooves.

The sun's put its hat on, which will be a relief to the riders, who are finally able to ditch those sweaty bin bags that serve as waterproofing. Breathable my foot. Of possible greater importance is the dryer roads they'll be enjoying, and the much reduced chance of tumbles.

And it's more or less as you were, with a gap between the two main groups of 2'30. Michael Matthews is confident that Alpecin-Deceuninck, with Dillier still in the engine room, are putting their chips on Mathieu van der Poel today "looking to use up the calories of their competitors."

Primoz getting a good telling off from the breakaway there.

Two of the four riders, Leknessund and Federov, both slide out on a slippery left-hand bend. It looks like they're both back up and riding, but that looks like it hurt. There should be plenty of time for them to re-form the quartet, but that's certainly knocked the wind out of their sails.

By which I mean we're expecting this longest stage of the Tour to be one of two halves, with the real action likely to begin, as Mr Sean Kelly has just said, at around 80km to go. Which doesn't mean it's going to be an easy one - there are none of those in the Tour de France, as poor Filippo Ganna found out yesterday. "This is going to be an energy sapping day" adds Sean.

The Alpecin team-mates of the leader are in a diagonal line across the road behind Jonas Rutsch. It's not so gusty as to be splitting the race apart apart, and it's relatively calm for now, but they're just positioning themselves to maximise their efficiency. It looks like Intermarche-Wanty have settled on a stop of two-and-a-half minutes or thereabouts.

Hope you're all keeping cosy. The couch is the place to be today.

It looks like Jonas Rutsch - incidentally one of four riders named Jonas in the race - and Silvan Dillier who will be slogging away for hour after hour. We certainly saw a lot of Dillier doing the same in the spring.

Content with the composition of the lead group, they've started to roll easy, commence the mundanities, and allow the group to press towards a decent gap. It's already ticking towards two minutes and means I can confirm who's there:

Yevgeni Fedorov (XDS-Astana)
Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
Brent Van Moer (Lotto)
Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility)

The best placed of those is Van Moer, who finished in the 49 second group, and is therefore now the virtual leader of the Tour de France. Where will the peloton place the cap?

With their raincoats on, it's not very easy to say who, but there's a Lotto rider there, along with an Astana, an Uno-X and one from Decathlon. It's already looking like this might be our break of the day.

After Christian Prudhomme appears briefly out of the sunroof to give the order, Jonas Abrahamsen is the first rider out of the blocks. Another rider who likes it long and hard is Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) who is right on the wheel.

You've got about an hour to make your selection. I think there is at least one name missing from this lot.

Don't be so hard on yourself big man.

And our first sighting of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in yellow. For once they've sourced a canary-coloured anorak, which means despite the weather he's able to show off his status. The same goes for our new KOM, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), the first black African best young rider, Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), who is third in the points competition but will wear the jersey today on behalf of Philipsen.

The most notable names are obviously Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, who were both caught out as Visma-Lease a Bike, and not least Jonas Vingegaard, "blew the race apart inside the final 20km." Both riders crossed the line in the 49 second group. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was in their company, although until otherwise instructed, he isn't expected to ride for himself.

Further back are both Yates brothers, who ought to be playing similarly supportive roles for Jonas and Tadej. Simon and Adam shipped six and five minutes respectively. Another big name not expected to play the big game, but who might have hoped for a shot at yellow is Wout van Aert. The Belgian is another at 49 seconds. While he will have his eye on today's stage, a lot would have to go right for him, and wrong for others, for him to take over the race lead.

Not one but TWO stoppies on display there. Michael Matthews on The Breakaway credits his compatriots motocross background at keeping him upright. Let's not forget that he then went on to help Philipsen into yellow.

You've just about got time to catch up.

After all the talk of a heatwave it is, by all accounts "p***ing it down" at the start in Lauwin-Planque. That appears to have presented challenges and caused delays with several team buses having only just arrived. That's the circus for you. It means the neutral start, which was set to be taken at 12.15 local, has been pushed back to 12.30pm.

Those threes and fours may not look like much, but they pack a punch and are sure to sap the strength of all but most mighty warriors.

Good morning and welcome to live text coverage of Stage 2 of the men’s Tour de France 2025. After yesterday’s high octane sprint start, we’re anticipating a different set of stars contesting the finish at Boulogne-sur-mer. All those lumps and bumps add up to 2500m of climbing, and those short sharp slopes ought to serve up a transfer of power. Jasper Philipsen can enjoy his day in yellow, and will be looking to hand it over to his team-mate Mathieu van der Poel. Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar might have something to say about that, though?

Whose day will it be? I be with you as we find out.