You know the first road stage is a flat one when the first two Gran Premio della Montagnas (GPMs) of this year's Giro d'Italia, two cat 3 climbs, are just 49m and 70m high. Like all of the stages that start in the Netherlands, stage 2 starts from Amsterdam. We'll then head southeast to Wageningen before heading northwest to the finish in Utrecht ( left), the religious centre of the Netherlands since the eighth century. Utrecht is also known for its many canals, art galleries, shopping districts and for being the host of the largest university in the Netherlands.
The Dutch would love to see one of their own win one of the flat stages in their homeland, but their best hope is probably Spaniard Oscar Freire or Aussie Graeme Brown who rides for the Dutch team, Rabobank. He'll contest the likely sprint finish with HTC-Columbia's André Greipel, Dutch/Flemish speaking Australian Robbie McEwen of Katusha, Sky's Greg Henderson, American Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Transitions and Italy's best sprinter, Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre who has won 26 Giro d'Itlaia sprint stages since 2003.
The big challenge could be the exposed bridge just 3 km from the line especially if there is good wind. A top three finish by Greg Henderson, along with the accompanying time bonus (20, 12 or 8 seconds), would put him in the Pink Jersey as a reward for his excellent 5th place ITT result on stage 1.
— Steve
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View Stage 2 in Google Earth (kml file) or Export the Stage 2 GPX file
You know the first road stage is a flat one when the first two Gran Premio della Montagnas (GPMs) of this year's Giro d'Italia, two cat 3 climbs, are just 49m and 70m high. Like all of the stages that start in the Netherlands, stage 2 starts from Amsterdam. We'll then head southeast to Wageningen before heading northwest to the finish in Utrecht (
left), the religious centre of the Netherlands since the eighth century. Utrecht is also known for its many canals, art galleries, shopping districts and for being the host of the largest university in the Netherlands.
Finish Profile for Stage 2
