The 104th edition of Le Tour de France will kick off at 3:15 p.m. local time in the city of Düsseldorf, Germany.
The stage will consist of an almost pancake-flat 14km individual time trial through Düsseldorf's town center, and will involve two bridge crossings over the famous Rhine River.
All eyes will be on Team Katusha-Alpecin's Tony Martin on the Tour's first stage this year. Martin is a six-time German National Time Trial champion, as well as a four-time World Time Trial champion, and will be competing in his home country to begin this year's Tour. The German rider has been unable to finish the past two Tour's, and has fallen short in the opening time trials in past years.
The flat course in Düsseldorf will suit a powerful rider such as Martin, and bike control will be a key to success in this time trial, as the course involves multiple hairpin turns.
Spectators should also prepare for riders such as Movistar's Jonathan Castroviejo, BMC's Rohan Dennis and Stefan Küng, and Team Sky's Vasil Kiryienka to be in the mix to take a victory on stage 1.
Castroviejo recently won his third Spanish National Time Trial Championship, and took home a victory at last year's European Time Trial Championships.
Rohan Dennis has had a strong 2017 season to this point as well, winning the Australian National Time Trial Championship and the Tour La Provence, and recording three individual time trial victories at stage races earlier this year.
Stefan Küng has begun to round into form in 2017 with his victory at Switzerland's National Time Trial Championship, as well as finishing second at Switzerland's National Road Race Championship. This year's edition of the Tour de France could indeed prove to be Küng's breakout race on the WorldTour.
As for Kiryienka, the timeless Bulgarian veteran has never captured a stage victory at the Tour de France, but is one of the most accomplished time trialists in professional cycling today. Kiryienka has won four Bulgarian National Time Trials titles, as well as World Time Trial Championships and European Games Time Trials titles in 2015.
With its short length and flat profile, stage 1 could also be a proving ground for many of the sprinters vying for the green jersey. Powerful pure sprinters such as Bora-Hansgrohe's Peter Sagan, Lotto-Soudal's Andre Greipel, Quick-Step Floors' Marcel Kittel, and Katusha-Alpecin's Alexander Kristoff could look to attack day 1 all-out and show the other riders in the field who has truly shown up to race at this year's Tour, as well as create a little separation from their competitors.
Stage 1 will favor riders who can be smart on sharp turns, and then be able to accelerate quickly from their loss of momentum and rhythm on the time trial's tight corners.
With the stage's relative lack of distance, it will do little to separate the general classification standings for those aiming for the Maillot Jaune, but will be a great litmus test for which riders have truly arrived at the 104th Tour de France in top form.
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