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STAGE 2 OF 21Sunday 5 July

TarragonaBarcelona

Hilly168.5 KM2,500 M CLIMBINGCatalonia

A punchy finishing circuit over Montjuïc decides the first road stage. Too steep for the pure sprinters, this is one for the puncheurs and a reduced bunch fighting for the yellow jersey.

KEY CLIMBS

Côte du Château de Montjuïc

1.6 km · 9.3% avg

Côte du Stade Olympique

0.7 km · 7% avg

THE TACTICAL READ

WHO IT SUITS

Puncheurs and the GC riders who can sprint uphill. The double ascent of Montjuïc is too steep for the pure fast men and too short for the climbers.

WHAT TO WATCH

Positioning into the final kick and the bonus seconds on the line. With the race this young, a handful of seconds and the yellow jersey are worth a real fight.

ROADMAN PREDICTION

A reduced bunch of thirty or so contests it. A Mathieu van der Poel or a fast-finishing GC leader is the profile that wins here — and takes yellow with the time bonus.

THE ROADMAN TAKE

WHAT THIS STAGE DEMANDS

Repeated short, sharp climbs into a finish are a repeatability problem, not a one-effort problem. Riders who can go deep, recover, and go again win these days. That capacity is built with over-unders and short VO2 work — not with endless steady miles.

WHAT PROFESSOR SEILER WOULD PUSH

The polarised-training pioneer would point at the recovery between efforts: the rider who spent the off-season building an aerobic base clears lactate fastest between each Montjuïc kick and is still there at the line.

THE DAILY DEBRIEF

Anthony’s daily Tour podcast lands here on the evening of the stage.

DAILY DEBRIEFSunday 5 July

Stage 2 Debrief — Tarragona to Barcelona

Breakaway or bunch? Anthony unpacks how the day played out and the durability it took to be there at the end.

Get it First in SkoolDrops on the evening of the stage.

PLAY THE FANTASY TOUR

Pick your nine riders, score every stage, and settle it on the community leaderboard. Coming for July inside the Roadman community.