Itzulia Basque Country stage 2 LIVE – Strong seven-man break forms on hilly first road stage of the race

As they continue to climb to the unclassified summit of Puerto de Lizarraga, the gap remains steady, hovering at around two minutes.

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Decathlon have taken on the responsibility of leading the peloton, for their leader in the yellow jersey. It’s a rare position the team find themselves in, but one that will likely become more common the longer they retain the services of Paul Seixas.

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The kind of terrain they’re taking on at the moment is typical of the Basque Country. It’s not a classified climb, but the road has been going up for almost 10km, and will continue doing so, with varying gradients, for about another 10km.

The gap between the peloton and the breakaway has come down a bit, to 2:15, as they climb an uncategorised rise.

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Paul Seixas in yellow, safely in the peloton.

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Here are the updated virtual KOM rankings. Bou takes over the lead from Seixas, who had led by setting the fastest time at the top of the climb during yesterday’s time trial:

1 Bou 6 points

The breakaway has a healthy lead of 2:35, as they reach the bottom of the descent.

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At last, Armirail and García Pierna have made the juncture on the descent. We have a new leading group of seven.

The leaders are descending having crested the climb, the two chasers trailing by about 30 seconds, and the peloton by over two and a half minutes.

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The two still chasers still have to catch up to the leaders, however. As they near the summit of the climb, they’re still 45 seconds behind.

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The time gap between the peloton and the leaders is now being reported at a much bigger distant, to over two minutes. That suggests the peloton is happy to let both the leaders and the chasers get up the road.

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As a result, the leading five’s advantage has been reduced too, down from about 1:30 to 50 seconds.

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The peloton appear less happy to let this pair go. They’ve upped the pace and are keeping them at just five seconds.

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This isn’t done yet. Two riders have jumped out of the peloton hoping to catch up to the leaders, and they’re a strong pair – Bruno Armirail and Raúl García Pierna.

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The riders making their way through the streets of Pamplona at the start, more famous for bulls roaming through it than hoards of cyclists.

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Fajardo has made the junction. With the peloton seemingly happy about the personnel in this group, they’re not having to ride this climb too hard.

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The break is growing its lead on the climb, up to 1:20. Fajardo is still chasing behind, with 10 seconds to make up.

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As they start the climb, the leading four have built a big lead already, of almost a minute. Unless more riders want to use the climb to get into the break, this could be the day’s break formed.

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Adrián Fajardo is chasing that quartet trying to join them.

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Four new riders have attacked – Hayter, Van den Broeck, Mintegi and Bou.

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The stage begins with a few kilometres of flat, but very soon they’ll be climbing, up the category two Alto de Etxauri (6.6km at 6.6%). That will shape the kind of riders who will be able to get into the break today – put simply, they have to be good at climbing.

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Four riders have attacked already, but all brought back.

And they’re off!

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Paul Seixas in the yellow jersey this morning before the start.

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The riders are moving through the neutralised section in Pamplona. Not long before they’ll see the flag.

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To catch up with everything that happened during yesterday’s stage, have a read of our full race report.