Tour de France 2022 LIVE: Stage 2 result as Fabio Jakobsen wins ahead of Wout van Aert in sprint finish

The spectators are readying themselves along the 202km route for the second stage of 2022’s Tour de France.

If the average British sports fan knows anything at all about Tom Simpson it’s that he died riding his bike. Ascending the notorious Mont Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France, he collapsed. That year he was among the favourites for overall victory, the first Briton so heralded. But as the Tour entered its second week Simpson fell ill with diarrhoea. He laboured on. The 13th stage of the race, on 13 July, tackled the 1,909m peak of Ventoux. It was stiflingly hot.

Back in 1967 drugs were commonplace in professional cycling – only officially been banned on the Tour in 1965 – with amphetamine, known for its ability to allow athletes to push their bodies beyond normal limits, the medication of choice. The morning of Simpson’s death, Tour doctor and anti-drug campaigner, Pierre Dumas, had warned cyclists of the dangers of using amphetamine in the extreme heat. As the climb began Simpson fell away from the leading group. The footage of what then happened makes for painful viewing. He began riding erratically, his bike zig-zagging across the road. A kilometre from the summit he fell. His team and spectators rushed to help, suggesting he retire from the race. “Put me back on my bike,” Simpson insisted.

After another half kilometre, a group of spectators grabbed him to stop him from falling again. They carried him to the roadside, unconscious. The medical team gave him mouth-to-mouth and cardiac massage as Dumas arrived with oxygen. It was all too late. The autopsy discovered alcohol (courtesy of a slug of brandy at the foot of Ventoux) and amphetamine in his system and concluded he died of heart failure brought on by heat exhaustion, illness and drug abuse.

The maillot jaune – or yellow jersey – is, of course, one of the most emblematic items of sporting apparel. It is worn by the leader of the Tour de France and 10 years ago this month Bradley Wiggins rode into Paris wearing it as Britain’s first winner of the famous race, after taking the lead on stage 7 and holding it for 15 days, all the way to Paris. It was front-page news, the culmination of a great career on track and road. The average British sports fan knew all about it.

Danish police carried out a search at the hotel of cycling team Bahrain Victorious at the request of French authorities on Thursday, Copenhagen Police said in a statement on the eve of the Tour de France Grand Depart.

Authorities searched all team vehicles and the rooms of staff and riders at 5:30 a.m. local time in Brondby. The homes of riders and staff were also searched by police on Monday before their departure for the Tour.

French prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into doping allegations against Bahrain Victorious after police searched the team’s hotel late in last year’s race.

“Based on a request from the French police, as part of an ongoing investigation in France, we have carried out a search at a hotel in Brondby,” Chief Superintendent Dannie Rise said.

On Monday the Bahrain-Victorious team announced a number of riders and staff had their homes searched by police prior to their departure for Copenhagen.

It comes after police last year raided the team’s hotel during the Tour, with the team saying the latest searches are a continuation of the same anti-doping investigation, though few details are known.

Whether or not more comes to light over the next three weeks remains to be seen.

Tadej Pogacar can join some elite clubs at the Tour de France over the next few weeks but a man still eligible for the young rider’s classification has no time to think about his place in history.

Pogacar, still only 23, is seeking to become only the ninth man to win three or more Tours, and only the seventh to win three in a row. Given the 2020 Tour was delayed until late in the year due to Covid-19, his would also be the quickest hat-trick ever scored if he is wearing yellow in Paris on July 24.

Such achievements would put Pogacar’s name alongside some of the greats in Tour history – five-time winners Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain among them – but the Slovenian will save such thoughts for another day.

In Monaco, Tadej Pogacar blends into the city. He walks invisibly through the streets and potters freely around his local supermarket. Even in his favourite bike shop, the best cyclist in the world queues among the muggles without being disturbed. “I like to go inside and see what’s new, and of course I don’t mind if there’s customers in front of me, it’s normal,” he says.

By all measures a double Tour de France champion should be one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet, a bonafide global superstar unable to walk through a hotel lobby without dark glasses and an entourage, but somehow Pogacar has not yet transcended the sport. One suspects if he was from cycling’s European heartlands or the US with a name that rolled off the tongue, his profile might be a little different. His “TP” brand with an eagle motif and a “never give up” tagline is yet to take off quite like Roger Federer or Tiger Woods.

But understated and low-key is how Pogacar approaches life and cycling, just riding for the joy of it, an ethos which has brought rich rewards so far. After winning back-to-back Tours de France, an historic third this month would set him firmly on course to becoming one of cycling’s all-time greats, and what makes it all possible is just how little he is driven by his own sporting legacy.

“For me that’s not something that I would enjoy after [my career] too much and brag about it. I work hard to win a lot of races, but for me the priority is just to be a good friend to my friends and have good relations with the people I want in my life.”

It has long been QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl’s plan that Fabio Jakobsen and not Mark Cavendish would be their man for the sprints this summer, but confirmation of a Cav-less eight-man squad was still met with disappointment.

Cavendish illuminated last year’s Tour with his remarkable run of four victories, a stunning comeback as he matched Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 34 Tour stage victories, but the Manxman will not be adding to that tally as the ruthless Patrick Lefevere favours the younger man this time.

After Cavendish’s superb display in last weekend’s British national road race, Jakobsen – who has fought back from a life-threatening crash at the 2020 Tour of Poland – must surely be feeling the pressure to prove his boss’s decision was right.

He’ll have the chance to prove himself today though. If QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl can position themselves well coming off the bridge, Jakobsen should be set up nicely for the 700m sprint to the finish line.

The next stage of the Tour de France is scheduled to begin at around 11:15pm BST and should finish around 4:10pm BST.

Live racing each day will be shown on ITV4 before highlights typically at 7pm each day. ITV’s website lists timings here.

Stage 2 promises spectacular imagery and, if the wind picks up, plenty of action on the road as the peloton traces the Danish coastline before crossing the majestic Great Belt Bridge.

One of the beauties of the Grand Depart going on Tour is that it throws up totally unknown routes and almost anything could happen on a day like this one. Fierce crosswinds could split the pack and put a serious dent in the hopes of those who come out on the wrong side.

The route is a long 202.5km, with three categorised climbs dotted in the middle, before eventually reaching the bridge.

1. Yves Lampaert (Bel) QuickStep-AlphaVinyl 00:15:17
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 00:00:05
3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 00:00:07
4. Filippo Ganna (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 00:00:10
5. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck 00:00:13
6. Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 00:00:15
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 00:00:16
8. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 00:00:16
9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 00:00:17
10. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious 00:00:20