Cycling: Already on the second day of the Tour de France things are getting serious for the ranked riders. In Brussels, the teams fight for important seconds and the yellow jersey. So tomorrow there will already be winners and losers.
From the Palais Royal to the Atomium
Second poker in Brussels. The second day of the Tour de France will be tight again. At the team time trial over 27,6 km only short distances are expected from the Palais Royal to the Atomium. Nevertheless, these few seconds can already be decisive, because some classification drivers have difficulties in the fight against the clock. These include the French favorites Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ). The spectators can join in the excitement live thanks to two split times. The first will be taken after 13,2 kilometers in Bois de la Cambre, the second after 20,1 kilometers in Schaerbeek. As usual, the teams start in the reverse order of the team ranking. The man in yellow, Mike Teunissen, will only roll off the starting ramp with his team Jumbo – Visma at the end. Ineos, on the other hand, starts right at the beginning.
All start times for the team time trial
14:30 p.m. Ineos
14.35 Arkea – Samsic
14:40 p.m. Astana
14:45 p.m. Groupama – FDJ
14:50 AG2R La Mondiale
14:55 p.m. Movistar
15:00 Total – Direct Energy
15:05 p.m. CCC
15:10 UAE Team Emirates
15:15 Trek – Segafredo
15:20 Katusha – Alpecin
15:25 p.m. Cofidis
15:30 DimensionData
15:35 Sunweb
15:40 p.m. Bora – hansgrohe
15:45 p.m. Lotto – Soudal
15:50 Mitchelton-Scott
15:55 Bahrain – Merida
16:00 p.m. EF Education First
16:05 Deceuninck – Quick step
16:10 Wanty – Groupe Gobert
16:15 Jumbo – Visma
Velomotion forecast: Ineos sets an example
As almost all professionals confirm, the team time trial is one of the most stressful and exhausting tasks in cycling. The joint fight against the clock not only requires smooth coordination among the drivers, but also good time trial qualities and an enormously high level of concentration. All in all, it's not that easy to set favorites for tomorrow. First and foremost, however, is the team Ineos. With Geraint Thomas, Jonathan Castroviejo, Michal Kwiatkowski and Luke Rowe, they have four extremely strong time trialists in their ranks. In general, the British team is considered a tight-knit group that has stood up for each other and achieved common goals for years. They will probably compete for the win mainly with Jumbo - Visma, Deceuninck - Quick-Step, CCC and Mitchelton - Scott.
☆☆☆ Ineos
** Jumbo - Visma, Deceuninck - Quick-Step
* Mitchelton-Scott, CCC, Sunweb