On the eve of the first rest day, following two crazy stages contested very competitively, some riders will suffer. The likes of Geraint Thomas and Primoz Roglic who have paid the price of their early crashes in the first Alpine stage might feel the consequences again as the second Alpine stage is short and nervous. It begins with the côte de Domancy as one more tribute paid to Bernard Hinault where he won the 1980 world championship. Col des Saisies is kind of a walk in the park compared to col du Pré. That’s the first HC climb of the 108th Tour de France with narrow and steep sections leading to the very scenic Cormet de Roselend whose descent to Bourg-Saint-Maurice has a long history of dramatic crashes. From the Tarentaise valley, the Tour goes back to Tignes where Egan Bernal received his first yellow jersey two years ago without completing the stage as the race was stopped because of a land slide. Only the end of the ascent to Tignes is hard, mostly because of the altitude, above 2000 metres. After he took the yellow jersey with a huge advantage in Le Grand Bornand, defending champion Tadej Pogacar has warned everyone: he’ll ride defensively now. It’s a chance for breakaway riders who still have some energy left in the tank.
