Everyone expected attacks, crosswinds, and crashes and carnage on the 18km-long Great Belt Bridge.

Crashes occurred twice, at the start and end of the Great Belt Bridge, but no one was hurt and the overall contenders did not lose time.

The second stage of the Tour de France was calm rather than chaotic. The wind was blowing, but not in a direction that would cause chaos.

Crosswinds/headwinds on the first part of the bridge and a 35 km/h block headwind on the second bridge made an early attack futile and a late attack impossible.

"With a full headwind, it would be suicidal to attack. It would be suicidal to attack. Mads Pedersen gave a straightforward description of the day's racing to Cycling News.

However, there was tension in the air before the stage start in Roskilde.

So much so that even the experienced Directeur Sportif was concerned that the riders might not be able to contain themselves and protect each other. The stakes were high and everyone was hungry for success.

Fortunately, road captains such as Luke Lowe (Ineos Grenadiers) and Philippe Gilbert (Lot Soudal) marshalled the peloton after a neutral development. Magnus Korto (EF Education-Easy Post) took the mountain points and later the polka-dot jersey.

Colt and Sven-Eric Bystrom (Intermarché-Wantigovert) quickly pulled away from the B&B Hotels pairing of Pierre Rolland and Cyril Barthe and continued to break away.

Speed and tension naturally increased before the Great Belt Bridge, and Bystrom caught up at the end, but his only fear was wheel contact.

With 21km to go, the first crash occurred and many riders fell off, but most of the peloton stayed on and race leader Yves Lampère quickly rejoined the peloton and led the pack, escorted by his Quick-Step Alphavinir teammates.

Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-Easy Post) was the only team leader to fall off and lose contact, but he quickly began a chase and was soon helped by three teammates.

They and the other chasers lost a minute to the peloton with 12 km to go, but the peloton dramatically eased the headwind and relaxed their way up to the first bridge peak, protected from the wind on their wheels.

"To be honest, it was boring," Wout Van Aert said honestly about crossing the bridge after avoiding a crash, finishing second, and taking the yellow jersey from Lampert. [The headwind was so strong that after 180km of race pace it was like a training ride. I think I was going 30 km/h on the uphills."

Uran and his teammates had to ride somewhat harder to close the gap, but they managed to catch up with 8.5 km to go and were relieved that they did not lose time. The headwind saved the day.

A second crash at the 2.5 km mark saw more riders fall, many were blocked, and panic set in again. Tadei Pogachar was involved in the crash, as were Filippo Ganna and Dani Martinez of Ineos Grenadiers and many others.

However, because the crash occurred in the last 3 km, 169 riders were able to equal the time of stage winner Fabio Jacobsen (Quick Step-Alfa Vinyl).

Pogachar laughed at a graze to his knuckles and his medical report on the race was brief.

Everyone finished safely and breathed a sigh of relief at being able to compete another day in the Tour de France. The winds were expected to cause some disruption, but in the end the winds were calm.