Tour de France 2016 Favourites stage 1: Sprint for yellow
At 188 kilometres, stage 1 in the Tour de France is played out on the rolling roads of Normandy. Chances are the fastest men in the world will go head-to-head, while the winner receives the yellow jersey as a bonus. Who is going to take 2 for 1, Kittel, Cav, Greipel, or Kristoff? (Slideshow route/profile)
In theory, those four are the fastest men in the Tour de France-peloton. Kittel seems to be best armed. In the Giro he outsprinted Greipel on the first two occasions (Cav and Kristoff were not in the mix)). In a later stage Greipel outperformed him once, yet this was on a route unlike today’s. Kittel is fastest when it comes to pure speed. In the course of his season he won nine stages, plus the overall in the unsurpassed sprinter’s race, Dubai Tour.
For comparison: André Greipel took seven races, Mark Cavendish three, and Alexander Kristoff. Until La Grande Boucle the big names rarely went head-to-head, except Kittel and Greipel in the Giro (2-1 for Kittel) and the German National Road race Championships (1-0 for Greipel), while Kristoff and Cav did get head-to-head in Qatar and California (5-2 for Kristoff).
Peter Sagan has six victories under his belt in 2016, yet he is a different type of rider. He is so much more than a sprinter, just remember the way he won the Tour of Flanders after a brilliant solo.
Favourites 1st stage Tour de France 2016:
*** Marcel Kittel, Mark Cavendish, André Greipel
** Alexander Kristoff, Peter Sagan, John Degenkolb
* Michael Matthews, Dylan Groenewegen, Bryan Coquard, Davide Cimolai
Tour de France 2016 stage 1: Route maps, height profiles, etc.
Click on the images to zoom
Watch the highlights of recent races here:
Related articles Riders - Tour de France 2016 Favourites - Tour de France 2016 GC Favourites - Tour de France 2016 More articles Giro 2022: Sprint triumph Dainese, López still leader
Giro 2022 Route stage 11: Santarcangelo di Romagna - Reggio Emilia
Giro 2022 Route stage 12: Parma - Genoa
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 12: Strongmen sprinters, or attackers
Giro 2022: Withdrawals
Giro 2022: The Route
Giro 2022: Riders
Giro 2022 Route stage 13: San Remo - Cuneo
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 13: Sprint in Cuneo
Giro 2022 Route stage 14: Santena - Turin
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 14: Hilly race to suit attackers
Giro 2022 Route stage 15: Rivarolo Canavese - Cogne
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 15: Breakaway day at altitude
Giro 2022 Route stage 16: Salò - Aprica
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 16: For pure bred climbers
Giro 2022 Route stage 17: Ponte di Legno - Lavarone
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 17: Climbers eyeing pink
Giro 2022 Route stage 18: Borgo Valsugana - Treviso
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 18: For fast men #5
Giro 2022 Route stage 19: Marano Lagunare - Castelmonte
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 19: Steep ramps to suit the breakaway
Giro 2022 Route stage 20: Belluno - Passo Fedaia
Giro 2022 Favourites stage 20: Final GC clash in high mountains
Cycling Calendar 2022
Tour de France 2022: The Route
Tour de France 2022: Riders
Tour de France 2022 Route stage 5: Lille - Arenberg
Tour de France 2022 Route stage 12: Briançon - Alpe d'Huez
Vuelta 2022: The Route
Like our Facebook page and stay on top of all pro-race information!
