After a 14 km individual time trial stage along the streets of Düsseldorf, the riders will leave the city and head out through the Germany countryside, before a finish in the Belgian city of Liège.
Stage 2 will be a longer stage in distance, winding for over 203 km through two countries, but will play into the strengths of the sprinters. The route holds only a couple of category 4 climbs, and the highest point will come at the 164 km mark at Henri-Chapelle in the Province de Liège.
Once the riders hit the 82.5 km mark, there will be a punchy sprint through the streets of Monchengladbach. We will no doubt see riders fighting for the green jersey, such as Peter Sagan, Andre Greipel, Marcel Kittel, Alexander Kristoff, and Nacer Bouhani, looking to make a statement in their first opportunity to capture sprint points for the points classification.
The race will finish on the boulevard de la Sauveniere in Liege, and may also favor sprinters who can excel in the Spring Classics at races such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège. While this stage is set up to expect a bunch sprint finish, look for a small group to create a breakaway, as some riders could be seeking to separate themselves from the group and really begin to attack at the 140 km mark.
The riders will climb to their highest point, a still relatively low elevation, at 321 m in Henri-Chapelle. Expect a few riders from Pro Continental teams such as Direct Energie, Want-Groupe Gobert, Cofidis, and Fortune-Vital Concept to be in any breakaways that form up front. These teams with smaller rosters and smaller budgets than WorldTour teams will look to be putting a rider in the public eye early at the Tour to capture media attention, and possibly even a surprise stage victory.
Since the race will likely come down to a bunch sprint finish, mean that teams, especially those who are looking to capture stage wins for a specific rider rather than chasing the Maillot Jaune, will be set up to support their rider to obtain a stage victory early in the race.
The finish is all downhill for the 20km, meaning the finish will be more a pure sprint, rather than a punchy uphill finish that could favor certain riders.
Stage 2 from Düsseldorf to Liege will be an exciting stage to watch, and should shape up to be a sprinter-friendly finish on the boulevard de la Sauveniere in Liege.
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