Stage 2 | Sunday, 2 July | Vitoria-Gasteiz - San Sebastian | 208.9 kilometres
Rolf Aldag's assessment: Selection at the Jaizkibel
We experience a second homage to the Tour of the Basque Country. The start takes the riders to the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz, also known as "Siberia-Gasteiz" - because in winter and even in spring, it is extremely inhospitable here on the high plateau by Spanish standards.
Today's stage won't be much easier than yesterday. The Jaizkibel, which in the past has often provoked the decision in the one-day classic in San Sebastian, awaits before the approach to the finish. As a second category climb, it is difficult enough to rob pure sprinters and helpers for the flatlands of their chances and put an end to the day's escape group. Some teams will also have to bring in helpers for their captains here. That's why I'm assuming that a large leading group will form, with 40, maybe 50 riders in the end.
I would expect the main contenders for yellow to sprint today, including Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Van Aert or Biniam Girmay. The descent to the finish is not suitable for attacks. However, a high level of concentration is required here. Marcel Wüst, the sprinter from Cologne, retired from the Tour in 1992 with a broken collarbone after a crash on the descent from Jaizkibel.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of stage 2 of the Tour de France 2023
- Neutral start: 12:15 pm, sharp start 12:25 pm
- Estimated arrival time: between 17:04 and 17:31
- TV broadcast: ARD - 15:30 to 17:30, Eurosport - 12 to 17:15
- Live stream: ARD one, sportschau.de, GCN+, Discovery+, Eurosport
Our expert Rolf Aldag
As a professional cyclist, our expert Rolf Aldag rode the Tour de France ten times up to 2004; as manager and sporting director, he has led various top teams through France and will once again be in charge of the German team Bora-Hansgrohe as sporting director at the Tour de France this year. There are few people who can tell so vividly what can happen on the stages of a grand tour and within the peloton. For TOUR, the 54-year-old sports manager has once again scrutinised the elevation profiles and march tables of this year's Tour de France.
In his predictions, he names the teams and riders he sees at the front on each day, assesses the difficulties of the routes and says where he expects attacks from whom. Will there be a bunch sprint? Will a breakaway group make it to the finish? Aldag also assesses for TOUR what role each stage plays for the classification jerseys: The more coloured jerseys our expert assigns to a stage, the greater their significance for the respective classification. The yellow jersey symbolises the weight of the stage in the overall classification, the green jersey stands for the importance of the best sprinter in the points classification and the red dotted jersey for the mountain classification, i.e. for the best climber. With these first-hand predictions, you can follow the TV broadcasts well informed and with profit!
