Düsseldorf / Liège

Stage 2 - Sunday, July 2nd - 203.5 km

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The Stage

We are skirting the Ardennes all in the name of giving the sprinters a chance; a missed opportunity in my view, I would have loved to see some real Liège-Bastogne-Liège action here. There will be a hard fight for the first polka dot jersey points, expect lots of escape attempts. If the wind is head on it could be slow going today, let's hope there won't be any mass crashes. This would also be a good point to mention that as of next year all teams will only have eight riders in the grand tours, specifically because of the many crashes we have been seeing.

Winning the first mass sprint is going to do lots of good for the next ones to come so you can bet all of them will give it their all. Who's going to come out on top? Take your pick from this alphabetical list: Nacer Bouhanni, Mark Cavendish, Sonny Colbrelli, John Degenkolb, Arnaud Démare, André Greipel, Dylan Groenewegen, Marcel Kittel, Alexander Kristoff, Peter Sagan.

Trivia: I won't be around forever but I will have been around another year today.

Winner: Marcel Kittel

Tour Touristique

The Neandertal (sometimes called "the Neander Valley" in English) is a small valley of the river Düssel in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about 12 km (7.5 mi) east of Düsseldorf. In August, 1856, the area became famous for the discovery of Neanderthal 1, the first specimen of Homo neanderthalensis to be found.

View attached image.

View attached image.

View attached image.