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The road starts looking a bit more mountainous from now on with 20km to the third and final intermediate sprint in Olot.
Veistroffer has now vaulted Godon in the points classification after that last intermediate sprint by two points. He has 12 points to Godon’s 10.
All the intermediate sprints and the KOM sprint have seen the same top three every time.
The peloton are absolutely hammering the pace but the break are doing a great job of holding them at bay.
60km to go
3km to the intermediate sprint in Besalú with the break holding a gap of two minutes 54 seconds.
A few of the big contenders coming back from nature breaks with Vingegaard, Almeida and Evenepoel all getting back into the pack.
10km to the intermediate sprint in Besalú.
Over two hours into the day and the average speed is at 43.6kph, they are flying along!
The next intermediate sprint is coming in about 15km and will take place in Besalú.
A reminder of the day’s breakaway:
Halfway through the stage and the breakaway has extended it’s advantage to two minutes and 35 seconds with NSN, Ineos Grenadiers and Bahrain Victorious leading the peloton.
The peloton appear to be letting the gap go a bit with the break getting their largest gap of the day with over 80km in the legs. They now have two minutes and 25 seconds.
Veistroffer still dominating absolutely everything.
5km to Peralada.
The gap dips under two minutes for the first time as the peloton tighten their grip on the stage.
10km to the intermediate sprint in Peralada. Thee, two and one points and bonus seconds available.
The best placed rider in the breakaway is Arriola-Bengoa at one minute and 35 seconds off Godon.
Over an hour of racing done and the average speed it at 41.1kph.
The riders now begin a very long but very gradual descent to just before the halfway point on the stage.
Bahrain Victorious join Ineos Grenadiers on the front of the peloton for the second day in a row with Lenny Martinez on very good form.
The temperature is a very pleasant 21 degrees with no wind and not many clouds at all.
20km to the first of three intermediate sprints, the first takes place in Peralada.
Uriarte returns to the break with the gap coming down back to the peloton to two minutes and 10 seconds.
Mechanical for Uriarte in the breakaway.
Ineos Grenadiers are keen to keep the tempo high in the peloton yet again. Godon must be feeling amazing after yesterday and his performances at Paris-Nice.
The gap is stuck at two minutes and 15 seconds, it drifted to two minutes and 20 seconds but has dropped down again.
Just 1km to the summit of the Alt del Purgatori for the breakaway.
It is another beautiful day for the riders to race in with blue sky and sunshine. Plus, amazing views of the mountains of the Pyrenees. Not that the riders will be able to appreciate them on the bike today.
The gap seems to have stabilised at two minutes and 15 seconds between the break and the peloton.
The first test of the day is the Alt del Purgatori, 1.7km long climb with an average gradient of 5% and a max kick of 15%. They are just 10km from cresting it. It is the only KOM points up for grabs today.
The gap quickly grows to over two minutes.
Veistroffer dominated the breakaway yesterday by taking all the KOMs and intermediate sprints as well as the green number as most combative rider, despite not being the last one caught. He rides in the white and red mountains jersey today.
The start was slightly delayed due to a couple of issues for Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla) and an Ineos Grenadiers rider. Fortunately, all are back riding and racing is underway.
We’re underway
Today’s stage features 2108 metres of elevation gain.
The neutral is longer than yesterday’s with 6.8km of steady riding before racing begins.
The riders are due to start at 13:10 local time.
The riders have started the neutralised zone for today’s stage.
Jerseys:
Journalists on the ground are very keen to speak to the top two from yesterday. Will Godon and Evenepoel swap jerseys after today’s stage?
Sign on is well underway with the race leader, Godon, taking in the limelight.
Of course, you will also likely want to watch the racing, here is our how to watch for this year’s Volta a Catalunya…
>>> How to watch Volta a Catalunya 2026 – Live streams, TV coverage
Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) had a superb start to his race for the GC title here in Catalonia with a very strong third place, even after having to launch his sprint very early. He is feeling the distance of Milan-San Remo, but is looking forward to the week ahead…
Stage 2 is a similar day, only the big climb comes much later in the day. It isn’t categorised, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard. A 167.4km day from Figueres to Banyoles with 2108 metres of elevation gain. It is a difficult stage to call.
Stage 1 was a rapid day in the saddle with only the strongest riders able to compete at the finish with French champion, Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), managing to hold off Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to take the stage with Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) rounding off the podium.
Hola and welcome to Cyclingnews‘ live report of stage 2 at the Volta a Catalunya 2026
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