Pogacar takes the yellow jersey in the 2nd stage of the Tour de France. Only Vingegaard can keep up

BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — Them two again.

It took only two days into the Tour de France to show that Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard are in a class of their own.

Pogacar attacked from the chasing peloton up the second ascent of the short but brutally steep San Luca climb in the second stage of the Tour on Sunday and only Vingegaard was able to follow him.

By the top of the climb, Pogacar and Vingegaard had opened up a 40-second gap ahead of the other contenders.

The move meant that Pogacar took the leader's yellow jersey from Stage 1 winner Romain Bardet. Primoz Roglic, another expected overall contender, dropped 21 seconds behind.

Breakaway rider Kevin Vauquelin made it two French wins in two days by winning the hilly stage with an attack of his own up San Luca to follow up countryman Bardet’s success.

Pogacar won the Tour in 2020 and 2021 then finished second behind Vingegaard the last two years.

Pogacar is aiming for the rare Giro d’Italia-Tour double after dominating the Italian Grand Tour last month. Vingegaard hadn’t raced since a big crash in April left him with a broken collarbone and ribs, plus a collapsed lung.

“I can be very happy,” Vingegaard said, “that I was able to follow Tadej on the second time of San Luca, because this is probably one of the stages we feared the most. We actually expected me to lose time — because of the preparation.

“Honestly speaking, I didn’t have a good preparation for this race,” Vingegaard said. “I only had 1 ½ months to prepare properly,” adding that the race “went way better” than he “had ever expected.”

The opening four stages are being held in Italy for the first time.

The 199-kilometer (124-mile) route starting in Cesenatico featured six categorized climbs, including two ascents up San Luca before the finish in downtown Bologna.

The San Luca climb is only 1.9 kilometers (1.2 miles) long but it features an average gradient of 10.6% with sections at nearly 20%.

Pogacar had already shown his legs during the first ascent up San Luca when he accelerated to grab a water bottle from a team staffer lining the road. That must have given him belief for his decisive attack on his second trip up.

In the overall standings, second-place Remco Evenepoel — the 2022 world champion and Spanish Vuelta winner — and third-place Vingegaard share the same time as Pogacar. Olympic gold medalist Richard Carapaz is fourth, also with the same time, while Bardet dropped to fifth, six seconds behind.

Evenepoel and Carapaz caught up to Pogacar and Vingegaard after the descent from San Luca.

Vauquelin clocked nearly 5 hours and finished a comfortable 36 seconds ahead of Jonas Abrahamsen and 49 seconds ahead of Quentin Pacher.

The 23-year-old Vauquelin, who won his first ever Grand Tour stage, rides for the Arkea-B&B Hotels team, which earned its first victory at the Tour in its 11th time racing cycling's biggest event.

Vauquelin’s teammate Cristian Rodriguez was also in the breakaway and set up his attack.

“I had a perfect day,” Vauquelin said. “I have to thank Cristian for his role in the way he helped me get through to win the stage. He put me in the perfect position and I knew I was going to be able to attack.”

The stage was dedicated to 1998 Tour champion Marco Pantani, who was from Cesenatico, and passed by a museum dedicated to the still beloved Italian rider, who died in 2004. Fans painted Pantani’s name all over the roads.

The stage also passed through Imola’s Formula 1 circuit.

There was a crash midway through the stage involving Wout van Aert, Laurens De Plus and Matteo Jorgenson but all three riders continued.

Van Aert was then dropped on the first climb up San Luca.

Earlier, world champion Mathieu van der Poel also fell behind.

Stage 3 on Monday is the Tour's longest, a mostly flat 231-kilometer (144-mile) leg from Piacenza to Turin that represents the race’s first chance of a mass sprint finish. That means it’s an opportunity for Mark Cavendish to break his tie with Eddy Merckx for the most career stage victories at the Tour, with the pair currently tied on 34 each.

Cavendish struggled with heat and stomach issues in Saturday’s opening stage and had to dig hard to finish within the maximum time limit. But he rode better on Sunday.

The race crosses back into France during Stage 4 on Tuesday, which is also the first big mountain leg going up to Sestriere and over the Col du Galibier — one of the Tour's classic climbs.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Fans of Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, right, holds a sign as he passes to go to the start of the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

France's Romain Bardet, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, waits for the start of the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

France Kevin Vauquelin rides breakaway on the Col de San Luca climb during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Etienne Garnier/Pool Photo via AP)

France Kevin Vauquelin leads the breakaway before Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen, wearing the best climber's dotted jersey, and France's Axel Laurance, left, on the Col de San Luca climb along the Portico di San Luca, right, during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A cycling fan waves the Italian flag as the pack with France's Romain Bardet, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, left, passes during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

France Kevin Vauquelin celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, left, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard break away from the pack during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Bernard Papon/Pool Photo via AP)

Riders climb the Col de San Luca climb along the Portico di San Luca, left, during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, right, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard break away from the pack for Pogacar to take the yellow jersey during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Bernard Papon/Pool Photo via AP)

France Kevin Vauquelin celebrates winning the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Guillaume Horcajuelo/Pool Photo via AP)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, front, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard break away from the pack during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Bernard Papon/Pool Photo via AP)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium after the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, front, and Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard break away from the pack during the second stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 199.2 kilometers (123.8 miles) with start in Cesenatico and finish in Bologna, Italy, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Bernard Papon/Pool Photo via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting near their records on Tuesday in a quiet day on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in morning trading, sitting a bit below its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:25 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was edging down by less than 0.1% from its record set a day earlier.

Tesla jumped 8.6% to help lead the market after the electric-vehicle maker reported a milder drop in sales for the spring than analysts expected. But losses for some big, influential stocks offset that leap. Nvidia, which has become the poster child of the rush into artificial-intelligence technology, fell 2.1% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Eli Lily dropped 3.2%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after investors took comments from the head of the Federal Reserve as a signal that it may deliver cuts to interest rates later this year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose utterances are always finely parsed for hints about rates, gave a nod to improvements in inflation data after some disappointingly high readings early in the year.

“We just want to understand that the levels that we’re seeing are a true reading of underlying inflation,” he said.

The hope on Wall Street is that inflation will slow enough to get the Fed to pull down its main interest rate, which has been sitting at its highest level in more than two decades and pressing the brake on the economy. Treasury yields have been easing since April on strengthening hopes for just that.

A report on Tuesday may have hurt those hopes, though. It showed U.S. employers were advertising more job openings at the end of May than economists expected and slightly more than April's tally. While plentiful job openings are great news for workers, the fear on Wall Street is that too strong of a job market will put upward pressure on inflation and force delays to rate cuts.

After swinging lower following Powell's comments, Treasury yields pared their losses following the report on job openings. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was sitting at 4.44%, compared with 4.46% late Monday.

Treasury yields have also been feeling some upward pressure because of politics recently. Last week’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump pushed traders to make moves in anticipation of a possible Republican sweep in November. That included sending Treasury yields higher, in part on the possibility that a Trump White House could drive policies that would further raise the U.S. government’s debt.

The 10-year yield is still well above its 4.29% level from late Thursday, before the debate.

In commodities markets, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 0.1% after earlier touching its highest price since April. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.3%.

Crude prices have been rising on expectations for strong demand during the summer, as well as the possibility of hurricanes damaging oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Beryl is roaring on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes fell after a report showed that inflation in the region remains stuck above the level that the European Central Bank is hoping for. Germany’s DAX lost 0.9%, and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.4%.

A day earlier, French stocks had rallied after election results suggested a far-right political party may not win a decisive majority in the country’s legislative elections. That raised the possibility of gridlock in the French government, which would prevent a worst-case scenario where a far-right with a clear majority could push policies that would greatly increase the French government’s debt.

This is a big year for elections worldwide, with voters in the United Kingdom heading to the polls later this week

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% after the value of the Japanese yen fell again to near another 38-year low. When the yen is weak, it can boost the fortunes of Japanese exporters.

AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

The Fearless Girl statues faces the New York Stock Exchange on July 2, 2024, in New York. Global stocks are mostly lower after benchmarks ended higher on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

FILE - A man walking on Wall Street approaches the New York Stock Exchange, right, on June 26, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced in Europe on July 1, 2024, with the benchmark in Paris up 2.8% briefly after the far-right National Rally gained a strong lead in first-round legislative elections. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders work near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)