Marcel Kittel is confident of pulling on the yellow jersey of the Tour de France for a second successive year having previewed stage one of the 2014 route in Yorkshire – but believes stage two will be “more like a hilly classic than a stage of the Tour.”
The German sprinter spent three days in Yorkshire with five team-mates: John Degenkolb, fresh from finishing second at Paris-Roubaix, leadout man Tom Veelers, Belgian Bert De Backer, and Dutch duo Koen De Kort and Albert Timmer.
Kittel and co rode the final 120km of stage one on Monday, before tackling a similar distance of stage two on Tuesday. The Giant-Shimano riders returned for a second look at stage one on the third and final day.
These pictures from Simon Wilkinson of SWPix.com show the squad on their preview of stage two. Read on for reaction from Kittel and Degenkolb, as well as their predictions for how the 2014 Grand Départ will unfold.
