Tour de France | Kévin Vauquelin wins the second stage, Hugo Houle 9th

(Bologna) Kevin Vauquelin, thanks to his breakaway, ensured that there was a second consecutive French victory by winning the hilly stage to Bologna on Sunday at the Tour de France.

Quebecer Hugo Houle took 9^e rank, finishing 1 min 36 s behind the winner. The Israel – Premier Tech rider occupies 61^e rank in the general classification. His teammate Guillaume Boivin took 93^e stage rank.

“I was happy to be part of the breakaway today. It’s a good start and I hope I can improve throughout the Tour,” said Houle after crossing the finish line.

“I did my best and I think it’s good to already have a top 10 during the second day of the Tour de France,” he added.

Pogacar in yellow

It only took two stages of the Grande Boucle to show that Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard are in a class of their own.

Pogacar attacked from the chasing peloton up to the second climb of San Luca and only Vingegaard was able to follow him.

The maneuver helped Pogacar strip Frenchman Romain Bardet, the winner of the first stage, of the leader’s yellow jersey.

Pogacar was crowned winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, before finishing second behind Vingegaard in the last two performances of the Grande Boucle.

Pogacar is aiming for a rare Giro-Tour de France double after dominating the Italian grand tour last month. Vingegaard has not raced since a nasty crash in April. He broke his collarbone and ribs and suffered a pneumothorax.

Aged 23, Vauquelin obtained his first career victory during a stage of one of the Grand Tours.

The first four stages of the Tour de France are being held in Italy for the first time.

The 199-kilometre route starting in Cesenatico featured six categorised climbs, including two climbs up to San Luca, before finishing in Bologna city centre.