Tour de France 2018 Stage 2 live stream: Watch online

The 2018 Tour de France keeps going with Stage 2 on Sunday afternoon in France. Here is how to catch all the action from the ride through the Vendée.

Stage 2 of the 2018 Tour de France takes cyclists through the Vendée region. After the start from the island of Noirmoutier to kick off the race, the peloton makes a short transfer to the small commune of Mouilleron-Saint-Germain. The Atlantic village of less than 2,000 residents bids adieu to the field on Sunday as they head east to La Châtaigneraie.

From there, the 22 teams in the race will head northeast for about five miles. Then the course cuts back northwest toward the first categorized climb of the 2018 Tour de France. The fourth-category Côte de Pouzauges. Here the first polka dot jersey will be awarded at this year’s Tour, on a one-kilometer climb averaging 3.9 percent grade.

It will be interesting to see if a rider like Warren Barguil darts out to snatch the king of the mountains lead right off the bat. Barguil has not been shy about his focus on defending the polka dots he won last year. Will the single point available at the summit of the Côte de Pouzauges be worth the effort early in the stage?

From there the road undulates in a northwesterly direction to Tiffauges. Then the route cuts back southwest, offering a relatively flat route for the final 100 kilometers after passing through Montaigu. It is another stage tailor-made for the sprinters in the peloton.

After winning the opening stage into Fontenay-le-Comte, Fernando Gaviria and his Quick Step lead-out train will be hungry to remain in the yellow jersey and fortify his lead on the green jersey. The rest of the elite group of sprinters will be hungry to take down Gaviria and get their first win of the 2018 Tour. This is a showdown you certainly won’t want to miss in between Wimbledon and the World Cup.

How to watch the stage

Here is how to catch Stage 2 of the Tour de France live on July 8. The action from Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to La Roche-sur-Yon will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network. Live streaming of the action is available on NBC Sports Gold or FuboTV.

• Date: Sunday, July 8, 2018
• Start time: 7:00 a.m. ET
• Start: Mouilleron-Saint-Germain, France
• Finish: La Roche-sur-Yon, France
• TV Info: NBC Sports Network
• Live Stream: NBC Sports Gold, Fubo.TV

Riding through the Vendée, riders will encounter a mostly sunny day ahead of them. Temperatures are expected to climb into the high 80s or low 90s Fahrenheit. In the final half-mile, the likely bunch sprint will be racing northwest toward the finish line into what will probably be a crosswind coming from the peloton’s right at around 10-12 miles per hour.

Next: Tour de France 2018 route breakdown and highlights

Given the strength of Quick Step in support of Gaviria, the Colombian sprinter will be a favorite on every flat stage. Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel were Gaviria’s closest challengers in the opening stage. Michael Matthews and Alexander Kristoff should also be in the mix in La Roche-sur-Yon.