A scenic start and a sporting finish. Well see if Mathieu van der Poel can match Tadej Pogaar.Stage 1 Review: the sun was out and so was the public. Plenty of teams were trying new cooling methods at the start, Netcompany-Ineos placed their forearms in troughs of cold water; Alpecin-PremierTech sucked frozen popsicles.Come the finish plenty got a cold shower after their plans came unstuck. Groupama-FDJ set the fastest time for a while but suffered a crash with Clment Berthet injured and out of the Tour. Netcompany wobbled when Egan Bernal started to sit on, then Kvin Vauquelin punctured before Ganna stormed to the finish but theyd prove eight seconds short. The Frenchman was absent while his team mates sat on the hotseats, perhaps screams of despair could be heard coming from the team bus?Movistar saw Cian Uijtdebroeks cramp, hes almost two minutes down on GC already. RedBulls leadership issue isnt settled but Evenepoel rode away, kein Lipo-suction with the German unable hold the wheel and giving up 16 seconds.UAE shed riders mid-course, Nils Politt was on Pogaars wheel and paid for it, rinsed in lactic acid after eight minutes. It meant Pogaar launched into the Montjuic climbs with a a deficit he couldnt make up despite being the fastest in the finale to don the polka-dot jersey. A headline loss but relative the fitness test suggests advantage Slovenia.Lidl-Trek did well but no fairy tale for Barcelonas son Juan Ayuso, 15 seconds off the pace and derailed because Mathias Skjelmose saddle rails snapped when he should have been Ayusos lead out.Visma-LAB won the stage and visibly looked the most cohesive, retaining more riders later on in the course by resting them on the first part. The stage win and above all Vingegaard back in yellow for the first time since 2023, an old acquaintance renewed.It marked a thrilling stage. The Paris-Nice format has been fun from a something-to-talk-about-on-a-Tuesday-in-March perspective. This time with the high stakes of the Tour de France it was electrifying.What to do with the yellow jersey? Thats more a question once Stage 2 is done. If Jonas Vingegaard can keep it then he might be willing to lend it out to the breakaway on Mondays stage. Hell have to match Pogaar on this stage to contain the Slovenian more than to keep yellow.The Route: a spin up the Costa Daurada in two parts, the regular coastal road and then the more scenic Costes del Garraf.Then its inland for the road to Begues, a steady climb on a regular road but it matters for the mountains competition as a second category climb, an opportunity for plenty of riders and teams to take the polka-dot jersey if only for a day.Probably the hardest phase of the race comes next with some twisty descents and unmarked climbs, all while teams want to be in position and fear itll be hard to move up later on.The Finish: a finishing circuit in Barcelona with the finish again in Montjuc. The finish line is in the same place as Stage 1 but the preceding climb is different, its steeper and was used when the Vuelta a Espaa finished here in 2023. If it helps imagine the Volta a Catalunya finish, just harder.The Contenders: the photo above is from Stage 2 last year in Boulogne and says plenty. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-PremierTech) if things dont go wild as soon as they hit the finishing circuit. He can cope with the climbs but would probably like a truce on the first time across the line as possible.Tadej Pogaar (UAE) is the other obvious pick, he thrives on hilly terrain like this and the pitch of the road is ideal for him. Its hard to see past these two.Romain Grgoire (Groupama-FDJ) was among the fastest uphill yesterday similar to Pidcock and Vingegaard but his problem is hes excellent but the names cited above are hard to surpass. Michael Matthews (Jayco) did well too but is long in the tooth these days. Can Paul Seixas (Decathlon-CMA CGM) sprint? He seems less punchy, preferring longer efforts to asphyxiate rivals but well learn more here.Van der Poel, PogaarGrgoire, Evenepoel, Van Gils, Vacek, PidcockWeather: cooling down during the day from 33C to 30C. Theres an onshore breeze meaning a crosswind during the stage but the forecast is for a gentle 20km/h. Normally this is insufficient to split the field but this is the Tour de France and theres a self-fulfilling effect where no team wants to be caught out so they jostle for position which ups the pace and before you know it theres a gap.TV: KM0 is at 1.55pm and the finish is forecast for 5.25pm CEST.The post Tour de France Stage 2 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.