Tour de France 2025 live: Stage 2 start time and route as classics specialists eye Jasper Philipsen's yellow jersey
As many foresaw, Jasper Philipsen sprinted to victory to take the yellow jersey in Lille - but there was little straightforward about the journey back to the city as the crashes came, the crosswinds blew and significant time was lost by a couple of general classification contenders before their race had even really begun. For Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and others, the deficit to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard is already nearly 40 seconds – and the uber-attacking defending champion may like the look of this parcours, too.
Stage 2 is a 209.1km run through France's extreme north from Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer, a town familiar to plenty of Channel hoppers. There should be just enough lumps and bumps in the final few kilometres to dislodge the peloton's pure fast-men, making this the sort of day that Mathieu van der Poel might be targeting.
Stage 2 preview
If riders were hoping for a relaxing stage 2 to recuperate then they may be disappointed: today's stage is the longest of the entire Tour, 209km from the small village of Lauwin-Planque to Boulogne-sur-Mer on the northern coast of France.
There are four categorised climbs, the latter three condensed into the final 30km, as well as plenty more uncategorised bumps and rises in a leg-sapping finish.
The climbs are short - none over 1.1km - but the cat-three Cote du Haut Pichot averages 10.6%, and takes place inside the final 10km, which could be enough to distance the fast men and narrow the field down to a reduced sprint. An enterprising late breakaway could be in with a chance at glory too, with the finish line itself is at the top of an uphill drag.
Callum Rice-Coates6 July 2025 11:12
Philipsen emerges from the chaos to win stage 1
In case you missed yesterday's stage 1 action, here's our report as Jasper Philipsen sprinted home to take the yellow jersey:
Jasper Philipsen emerges from the choas to win stage 1 of Tour de France in Lille
The Belgian collected the 10th Tour de France stage of his career as Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic lost valuable time after splits in the crosswinds
Callum Rice-Coates6 July 2025 11:03
Tour de France 2025 – stage 2 live
Hello and welcome along to live coverge of the 2025 Tour de France. After a wild stage 1 comes a long and unpredictable stage 2 in north-west France, finishing in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Lawrence Ostlere5 July 2025 21:13
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