The second week of the Tour de France was a juxtaposition of predictability and surprises as the fortunes of some teams and riders rose, while others came crashing down. As was the case last year, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) is in charge of the yellow jersey, but we witnessed a first Tour stage win for Uno-X Mobility and a podium contender abandon the race.
On the first rest day, UAE, Alpecin, EF and Quick-Step were the teams firing on all cylinders but apart from UAE, who have only boosted their success, the others have slipped in terms of results. How did the second week go for the rest of the 23 teams?
Alpecin-Deceuninck - 6/10
Although Mathieu van der Poel got into the key breakaways on stages 11 and 15, coming third in the former, and has quietly amassed enough green jersey points to leave him in third in the classification, the second week was muted for the team that lit up many of the first 10 stages.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels - 7/10
Kévin Vauquelin has continued to outperform expectations, currently sitting in fifth on GC and third in the white jersey competition. Not only that but his teammates Cristián Rodríguez and Raúl García Pierna have shown remarkable form in the mountains and could provide the support the Frenchman needs to hold onto his top five position as the race enters its mountainous finale.
Bahrain-Victorious - 7/10
Lenny Martinez is in the polka-dot jersey, with 60 points, eight ahead of Pogačar, who will likely reclaim the lead of the classification, as he is the favourite to win stage 16 to Mont Ventoux. However, after the Giant of Provence there are still a number of key climbs left in the race, including five hors catégorie ascents — there is still a maximum of 156 points to be won.
While Martinez will be focused on the KOM, Matej Mohorič and Fred Wright have started to show signs of interest in breakaways and stages 17 and 20 suit their attributes.
Cofidis - 1/10
In the first week, the French team’s best result came when Bryan Coquard’s was seventh on stage eight, but in the second week they couldn’t break into the top 10. Worse still, their sprinter had to abandon the race after stage 14.
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team - 6/10
After a subdued start to the Tour, Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale Team are beginning to show some intent through Felix Gall who has moved himself up to seventh overall. With more high mountains to come, he will be eyeing the top five.
EF Education-EasyPost - 7/10
After a storming first week, EF haven’t quite managed to follow up the same success in week two. Ben Healy is still fighting for a top 10 GC result and the likes of Kasper Asgreen and Neilson Powless should target the flatter stages on 17 and 20.
Groupama-FDJ - 2/10
It was another anonymous week at the Tour for Groupama, with Valentin Madouas’ 10th on stage 15 their best result.
Ineos Grenadiers - 8/10
Thymen Arensman’s stage win in the Pyrenees was a much-needed bit of relief for the team who have been struggling for results at this Tour. The management will be hoping it provides a lift in morale to inspire another victory.
Despite a disappointing start to the race, Carlos Rodríguez has managed to haul himself into ninth on GC and could continue his rise through the ranks if things go well for him.
Intermarché-Wanty - 2/10
The mountains were never going to be a happy hunting ground for Intermarché-Wanty, but even still they will be disappointed not to have made much of an impression on the race. Furthermore, Biniam Girmay’s green jersey challenge has all but ended.
Israel-Premier Tech - 3/10
Michael Woods has looked active in some breakaways and has picked up a few KOM points, but things will have to fall for the Canadian for him to mount a serious challenge for the polka-dots and for a stage.
Lidl-Trek - 4/10
Odd tactics have resulted in Milan’s green jersey defence being a lot more complicated than it needed to be going into the final six stages. Milan is currently on 251 points, but he faces the dual threat of Pogačar, 28 points behind, and Van der Poel, who, although he insisted he wasn’t going to go for green, has nabbed some intermediate points and is only 41 points off the lead. Milan is still the favourite to take the jersey but will have to be careful in the break formation phase of each stage, and should try to get to the intermediate sprint to compete for points himself if he still has the legs.
On top of the nervy green jersey battle, Mattias Skjelmose, the team’s climber and KOM jersey hope, was forced to abandon after a nasty crash.
However, Quinn Simmons has looked strong in the breakaways he’s been in and could get a stage win.
Lotto - 2/10
Arnaud De Lie’s fourth on stage 11 was the team’s best result during the second week.
Movistar Team - 2/10
Unfortunately for the Spanish squad, Enric Mas’s GC challenge has collapsed and they have been left scrambling for a result.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe - 7/10
The German squad had a good turnaround in the Pyrenees, after a bit of an anonymous first 10 days. Florian Lipowitz and Primož Roglič are leading a dual leadership assault on the top five, with Lipowitz currently in third and in the white jersey, and Roglič in sixth. This makes them the only team left in the race with a realistic two leadership card to play as the race enters its decisive conclusion.
Soudal Quick-Step - 2/10
Remco Evenepoel’s abandon will overshadow the earlier successes of week one for the Belgian squad. They will be thankful for Tim Merlier’s two sprint victories, as wins will be hard to come by for the rest of the race.
Team Jayco Alula - 3/10
A disappointing Tour so far is showing signs of improving with the performances of Luke Plapp and Ben O’Connor on the up. However, until that form is translated into stage success, the team will be feeling desperate.
Team Picnic PostNL - 8/10
Oscar Onley entered the first rest day in seventh overall and has moved up to fourth and is increasingly looking like he will hold that position for a long time. He will come under pressure from the likes of Gall and Roglič, but he can take comfort in the knowledge that he has had the match of them and Vauquelin on the climbs so far in the race.
Team TotalEnergies - 5/10
Jordan Jegat is quietly improving on his GC position and now sits in 11th overall. If he can hold onto this, it would be a successful Tour for the French squad.
Tudor Pro Cycling Team - 6/10
In their debut Tour, Tudor continue to be prominent in breakaways with the likes of Michael Storer and Julian Alaphilippe, who thought he had won stage 15 only to find out Tim Wellens had already crossed the line. A third-place finish was still a good result and if they continue their form then a stage win could come their way.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG - 10/10
Tadej Pogačar’s dominance in the Pyrenees speaks for itself but the team around him have been equally as impressive. Jhonatan Narváez, who is the climbing form of his life, was the final lead out for Pogačar on stage 12 and Tim Wellens got freedom for his stage win to Carcassonne. If his team were up for controlling it Pogačar could realistically win the remaining three mountain stages (and stage 20 too), the KOM competition and even the green jersey, which would make it an even more all-dominanting Tour than Eddy Merckx’s win in 1969.
Uno-X Mobility - 8/10
Jonas Abrahamsen seized the team’s first Tour de France stage win in Toulouse, meaning everything else at this Tour is a bonus. Eighth-place Tobias Johannessen has a substantial buffer of almost six minutes to Rodríguez in ninth, so should be confident in maintaining his top 10.
Visma-Lease a Bike - 6/10
Things haven’t quite gone right for the Dutch squad. Jonas Vingegaard, although seemingly improving on stage 13 and 14, suffered on stage 12 when Visma decided to take control for most of the day and burned through their domestiques, including Matteo Jorgenson — ending his GC challenge. It’s not been a disaster and there’s no shame in losing to Pogačar. They still have second-place overall more or less sewn up. Wout van Aert and particularly Victor Campenaerts could be allowed the freedom to go for a stage to add to Simon Yates’ win at Mont Dore.
XDS Astana Team - 2/10
Harold Tejada remains the team’s best chance at a result. His 12th and 11th place finishes on stages 14 and 15 will be a confidence booster and everything could fall for him in one of the upcoming mountain stages. However, for now the team has no tangible results to shout about.
