As you might expect, Jonas Vingegaard has been front and centre of all the attacking racing by Visma over the first two stages. “Jonas looked really good today,” Wiggins says of the Dane after stage 2. “A bit over-excited perhaps — we saw him attacking on that descent, which probably wasn’t necessary.”
“It was also a way to stay up front and out of trouble,” Bruyneel adds. “If the race stretches into a line like that, you’re less likely to get caught behind. In the sprint, we kind of expected him to lose the wheel — he can’t hold Mathieu’s wheel, and Tadej is so explosive too.”
Whilst Pogacar has been the match of Vingegaard and Visma so far, not all the GC contenders can say the same. “Carlos Rodriguez is INEOS’ GC hope, but he’s not at the level we expected,” says Wiggins. “Yes, he had that crash earlier this year and a complicated collarbone fracture that took time to heal — but still, he lost more time today.”
“Remco Evenepoel was much better today than yesterday. His team looked after him too. I get the sense that they were caught napping on stage one,” Bruyneel adds. “But today, he was right where he needed to be. On the steepest climb, it was Van der Poel and the GC contenders — and no one else.”
Van der Poel stormed into the Maillot Jaune with his stage 2 win
Winning stage 2 and taking the Maillot Jaune though, there was no doubt that Mathieu van der Poel was the star of the day.
“Van der Poel looked incredibly strong on that climb. I think he’s in the best form we’ve ever seen from him at the Tour,” analyses Wiggins. “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he wins another stage this week.”Bruyneel meanwhile, praises the Alpecin-Deceuninck team as a whole. “Credit to Christoph and Philip Roodhooft — especially when you consider where they’ve come from,” he says. “Budget-wise, they’re well down the list. They’re not even in the top five richest teams. What they’re achieving is phenomenal.”
And it could get even better too. With a bunch sprint expected on stage 3, Jasper Philipsen has the chance to make it three stage wins on the bounce for Alpecin-Deceuninck at the start of the 2025 Tour de France. “That would be something else — and it’s not impossible,” concludes Wiggins and Bruyneel. “Especially at the Tour. It’s always chaos, but the earlier a team gets a win, the more it snowballs. The pressure disappears, mistakes are fewer, riders relax. Let’s be honest — more than half the teams here won’t win a single stage, let alone two. Alpecin already have. If Jasper makes it three, that would be incredible.”