Another day at the 2023 Tour de France and another thrilling stage. After the dual between the Yates brothers on stage 1 it was Victor Lafay who emerged victorious on stage 2.
The Tour de France has gotten off to an explosive and exciting start, and stage 2 in the Basque Country will also deliver some spectacle, as the riders tackle the Jaizkibel before the likely sprint in San Sebastián.
Despite a big battle to get into the break expected by many, three riders managed to ride clear relatively easily and drama free. Edvald Boasson Hagen (TotalEnergies), Rémi Cavagna (Soudal - Quick Step) and the King of the Mountains Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost).
Their advantage quickly rose up towards 4 and a half minutes with the three taking the majority of points on offer at the intermediate sprint.
In the bunch behind, it was Jasper Philipsen that won the mini sprint for the remaining points, ahead of Sam Welsford and Mads Pedersen.
Powless was using his position in the breakaway to his advantage, taking maximum points in the first few climbs of the day, extending his lead in the mountains competition.
Mikkel Bjerg was on the front of the peloton for UAE Team Emirates and much to the chagrin of his own teammates, was trying to keep the pace high up the Côte d'Alkiza.
Meanwhile in the breakaway, Cavagna began to lose touch with his breakaway companions, leaving just Powless and Boasson Hagen up front.
With 50km to go, the gap between the leading duo and the peloton had been cut by Bjerg to just over two minutes.
As Powless accelerated again up front dropping Boasson Hagen, a nasty crash took place in a tense and stressed peloton.
Beginning the final and biggest climb of the day, Powless held a lead of 1:28 over the peloton that had been taken over by Jumbo-Visma and was being trimmed considerably.
When Rafal Majka took over for UAE Team Emirates, the group thinned even further and Powless was soon swept up as some high-quality riders including Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe were dumped out the back of the group.
With bonus seconds on offer at the top of the climb, race leader Adam Yates took over from Majka near the top. It was Tadej Pogacar that took the maximum bonus seconds with Jonas Vingegaard taking second place and Simon Yates third.
Pogacar looked as if he was keen to keep the attack going on the descent. With Vingegaard shaking his head when asked for a turn though, the pair were soon caught by the rest of the GC leaders.
A counter-attack from Basque rider Pello Bilbao, riding on home roads then came and looked more dangerous for the stage win. Sadly it wasn't to be for Bilbao or Emanuel Buchmann who also tried his luck.
Into the final kilometre and the group of 25 riders remained all together. Victor Lafay then launched a big move and gained a gap.
In a thrilling finale, Lafay just about held on to take a truly brilliant win. Behind him, a visibly frustrated van Aert was second ahead of Tadej Pogacar who added another couple of bonus seconds to his time.
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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VICTOIRE DE VICTOR LAFAY ! Sorti sous la flamme rouge, le coureur de Cofidis a réussi à creuser un écart suffisant et à résister au retour de Wout Van Aert et Tadej Pogacar qui complètent le podium sur ses talons au sprint ! #TDF2023
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