The first stage of the Deutschland Tour turned out to be the expected battle between the puncheurs and the sprinters. A steep ramp in the finale provided the stage for late attacks. But with 4km to go, a large peloton came together for the sprint royal in Heilbronn.
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe took the initiative in the final 200 metres. Danny van Poppel took the lead with Jordi Meeus on his wheel, followed by Lidl-Trek in the green and blue jerseys. The battle was on between Jordi Meeus and yesterday's winner Jonathan Milan - Milan won, Jordi sprinted to second place.
Thanks to the bonification seconds, Jordi Meeus moved up to 2nd place in the GC and will wear the green leader's jersey tomorrow on behalf of Milan.
Jordi Meeus
“It was a pretty controlled day. In the final there was that climb where I got dropped, but my teammates did a perfect job to get me back in position for the sprint. Marco and Danny were there in the final, both of them put me in a perfect position, but one guy was faster today.”
Stage 2 runs from Heilbronn to Schwäbisch Gmünd. At 174.6 kilometres, it is similar in length to today's stage - but the terrain is a little more demanding. It will be up and down all day long, and once again it will be a case of puncher versus sprinter.