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30 August 2020With an uphill attack, a dizzying descent and a burning sprint, Julian Alaphilippe conquers the second stage of the Tour de France and the yellow leader's jersey. The Frenchman climbs to the top of the general classification by virtue of the bonus game: 10 "to the winner and 5" second to the "point bonus" on the top of the last climb. This is the result of the fraction with start and finish still in Nice, but with the Maritime Alps to test the legs of the runners. Alaphilippe overthrows the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff and leads with 4 ”ahead of Yates and 7” over Hirschi. At 17 "the best, with the Colombian Higuita 4th, ahead of the Slovenian Pogačar, the other Colombian Chaves, Davide Formolo, and Egan Bernal, the Colombian winner of the 2019 Tour. They are followed by the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, l Dutchman Tom Dumoulin and Slovenian Primož Roglic, considered to be Bernal's toughest challenger. Fabio Aru out of the standings, who reached the finish line 2'09 ”late.

The first stage, run in the rain and studded with falls, left as a consequence the retirement of three riders: Rafael Valls, John Degenkolb and Philippe Gilbert. The route of the second stage is 186 kilometers with the Col de la Calmiane (1,500 meters) and the Col de Turini (1,607), first category mountain Grand Prix, then the Col d'Èze (490 meters) and the Col des Quatre Chemins (338 meters) to be faced twice in the final.

Seven riders on the run almost immediately: the Slovak Peter Sagan, three times world champion, the French Benoît Cosnefroy and Anthony Perez, the Danish Kasper Asgreen, the Austrians Lukas Pöstlberger and Michael Gogl, the Latvian Toms Skujins, and Moreno Trentin, who however quits after winning the intermediate sprint. The maximum advantage of the fugitives reaches 3 '.

On the Col de Colmiane, 16.3 km of ascent, average gradient of 6.3%, the group reaches the summit 2'10 "late. On the Col de Turini, 14.9 km long with an average gradient of 7.4%, Sagan struggles but then returns, only to give in again together with Cosnefroy. The Frenchman, however, returns before the summit, where the group passes 2'20 ”late. Sagan can't keep up with the escape. Among the fugitives, the fight breaks out with Pöstlberger, Skujins and Asgreen who take a 10 ”lead downhill to be reabsorbed on the plain.

On the attack of the Col d'Èze, the adventure of the fugitives ends and the fight for the stage victory is unleashed. With 13 km left to finish, Julian Alaphilippe's attack on the Col des Quatre Chemins, well recovered from the fall in the first stage. The French leads the Swiss Marc Hischi. Then the British Adam Yates joins, who burns the others at the “point bonus” which gives him an 8 ”bonus (5” to Alaphilippe and 2 ”to Hirschi). The advantage of 15 "on the summit becomes 20" on the descent. At 300 meters, when the group is returning, Alaphilippe breaks the delay and launches the sprint, resisting the return of Hirschi, while Yates, who led the straight, gets up and settles for third place. By virtue of the 10 ”bonus that goes to the winner and the 5” bonus, the Frenchman goes to wear the yellow jersey. At 2 ”Greg van Avermaet regulates the group.

The third stage takes the Grande Boucle from Nice to Sisteron for 198 km, with three GPMs in the third category and one in the fourth, and a slightly sloping finish.