Tour de France 2021 Favourites stage 2: Punchers at Mûr-de-Bretagne

image: Cor VosThe finale of the 2nd stage at the Tour is similar to stage 1's. The finish climb is shorter though, and the steepest part is even steeper. Cyclingstage.com takes a look at the riders who are likely to shine at the Mûr-de-Bretagne. (Slideshow route/profile)

Stage 2 favours those who thrive on smashing their way up the hills. The hilltop finish in Mûr-de-Bretagne – it is also a village – featured twice in the Tour de France. On both occasions a rider crossed the line solo after attacking in the first part of the brutal climb.

Three years ago it was Dan Martin who finished 1 second ahead of Pierre Latour, while Alejandro Valverde outsprinted Julian Alaphilippe for third place. Alexis Vuillermoz won in 2015. Dan Martin finished second that year, while Alejandro Valverde sprinted to third place, this time ahead of Peter Sagan.

The Mûr-de-Bretagne climb is 2 kilometres long. The ascent kicks in hard with the first 500 metres at 10.1% before it ‘mellows out’ to 9.5% in the following 500 metres. The next 500 metres go up at 5.5%, after which the last section is a false flat at 2.4%.

After his show of strength on stage 1 yellow jersey Alaphilippe is the man to beat.

Favourites stage 2 Tour de France 2021

*** Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Julian Alaphilippe
** Daniel Martin, Benoît Cosnefroy, Michael Woods, Wout van Aert
* Davide Formolo, Jakob Fuglsang, Michal Kwiatkowski, Wout Poels

Another interesting read: route 2nd stage 2021 Tour de France.