Yesterday we saw a wet and unpredictable prologue with Yes Lampaert taking the Yellow Jersey much to the embarrassment of his helmet sponsor. Behind him it was business as usual and the battle lines have been drawn as expected.
Today, going by the numbers, should be an out-and-out sprint with a flat 202km route along the coast.
What the numbers don’t tell you is that approaching the finish the riders traverse the Great Belt Link, a series of bridges that span 18km. Without so much as a tree for shelter the chances of echelons are high. If the wind comes out to play the likelihood of a bunch sprint will be much reduced.
Fortunately for Yves Lampaert, Quickstep are potentially the best team in crosswinds however with very small time gaps we will see teams like Trek Segefredo throwing everything at it to get Mad Pedersen, the local lad, into yellow. Trek have no real GC contender so can sacrifice a lot to get it. Matheiu Van Der Poel is also chomping at the bit a few seconds back with a team ready to commit themselves fully.
Tough one to call but I do think the Great Belt Link will play a role.
Our Top Picks:
Mads Pedersen
Wout Van Aert
Fabio Jakobsen
Matheiu Van Der Poel
Outside picks:
Dylan Groenewegen (on the new Giant Propel)
Caleb Ewan
Our Winner:
Mads Pedersen
(For an interesting view on proceedings check out the bridge web cams here. Ed.)
