Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates on the podium in the yellow jersey after stage two of the 2024 Tour de France. Photograph: David Pintens/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty ImagesPogacar, a little over a month removed from his dominant victory in the Giro d’Italia, ignited his bid to double up in the Grand Tours with an attack late on the second ascent of the steep San Luca climb.
Asked if he had wanted to go for the stage win, Pogacar said: “No, because the breakaway was too hard and in this weather, this heat, it would be unnecessary to kill my team-mates. The main favourites had come to the foot of the San Luca climb for the second time still together, but as they rode alongside the famous 666 arches, gradients hitting 20 per cent on the road up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca, Pogacar was biding his time for an attack.
The breakaway had split after the first ascent of San Luca, once it became clear the peloton would not catch them. Vauquelin pulled clear alongside Nelson Oliveira and Jonas Abrahamsen on the approach the second ascent, then quickly distanced them once the road ramped up.