‘s Hertogenbosch and Grand Tours, it has been a while, but the town in the southern part of the Netherlands hosted the Grand Depart of the Tour the France in 1996. The 1st stage was a prologue and the 2nd stage an out-and-back race before the 3rd stage set off from ‘s Hertogenbosch to head further south with Alex Zülle – winner of the prologue – in the yellow jersey.
The route traverses the the province of Noord-Brabant before crossing three large rivers, Maas, Waal and Nederrijn (Dutch part of the Rhine). Shortly after crossing the Rijnbrug bridge the riders tackle the only KOM climb of the day. The Grebbeberg is 600 metres long and the average gradient sits at 5%.
The Grebbeberg marks the start of the Utrecht Hill Ridge, which is a series of low sandhills that stretches for 50 kilometres. La Vuelta crisscrosses in and out of this area until reaching the finish circuit in Utrecht. A sprint is the most likely outcome in Utrecht Science Park, which is located to the east of the city.
Both winning two stages, Sam Bennet and young Fabio Jakobsen were the most successful sprinters in last year’s Vuelta.
Vuelta a España 2020 stage 2: route, profile, more
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