Jens Voigt: " I expect the first Tour week will also be marked by many falls"

The Tour de France begins tomorrow, and everyone is excited for it. Teams have sent their strongest riders for the Tour, with the finest sprinters and climbers giving their best, it will not be an easy journey to the GC according to former pro Jens Voigt.

"It's super exciting and exciting for the spectators, but this first week of the Tour de France is as close to gladiatorship as it gets," he told Eurosport. "The first week will be extremely important and stressful. Everyone knows that and accordingly all riders always want to be upfront at that one important corner - but that's not possible, there's only room for 20 riders. That's why I expect the first Tour week will also be marked by many falls," he mentioned.

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With the first mountain stage coming only on the seventh day of racing, the first six are set to be marked by a set of fast sprint finishes, likely strong wins in Denmark, cobbles in northern France and a steep hilltop finish on stage 6.

On stage two, where the riders will face risk of crosswinds, Voigt has detailed: "Almost exactly 20 kilometers from the finish line, we cross the bridge over the Great Belt - dead straight out onto the open water for 18 kilometers..."

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"It will be so dramatic that I'm afraid that several favorites for the general classification could unfortunately already lose their chances on the podium on this day and there will probably be a number of falls with broken bones," he mentioned. The opening week of the Tour is known to be a frequent place for crashes, with many sprinters and general classification riders seeking the best positioning towards the end which will surely cause havoc until there is some order in the GC.