The Visma-Lease a Bike team of Jonas Vingegaard were the protagonists, with several contenders for the overall classification — including Remco Evenepoel — distanced as the echelons formed. That main part of the peloton, which also contained Primoz Roglic and Geraint Thomas, ended up losing 49 seconds to the stage winner.

The Netherlands’ Mathieu van der Poel won stage two of the Tour de France ahead of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar in a sprint finish on Sunday. A large leading group stayed together for much of the stage which boiled up into a mass sprint for the line,