Martin could prove a value pick in puncheurs test

ITV4 & Eurosport 1, 11.15am

Marcel Kittel claimed his tenth career Tour de France stage win by driving his way to the front of the bunch finish to stage two.

The 5-4 favourite beat 6-1 chance Arnaud Demare, Andre Greipel and Mark Cavendish.

Though the stage finished on dry roads, wet weather played a part in a pile-up 30km from the finish in which GC favourite Chris Froome and French hope Romain Bardet were caught up.

Froome had to stop to change his bike soon afterwards, but both riders recovered to finish in the peloton.

Who knows whether the race organisers were making a point about European unity, but stage three visits three countries with nary a border control in sight.

The route begins in Belgium before travelling through Luxembourg and finally into France for the first time this year.

At 212km it is among the longest stages of this year's Tour and includes some tricky terrain as well as five categorised climbs. The route also sees the riders tackle a significant portion of the Spa-Francorchamps motor racing circuit, renowned as the most challenging on the Formula One calendar.

We can expect to see the peloton split into several smaller groups by the time the riders reach the uphill finish in Longwy.

It's a stage that will favour the puncheurs, although don't be surprised if some of the GC hopefuls see it as an opportunity to gain time.

Alejandro Valverde, facing a lengthy recovery after breaking his kneecap in stage one, would have been among the favourites but in his absence Peter Sagan heads the market at 10-3.

Sagan's skill set gives him a great chance, and the Slovakian superstar finished fourth in a similar test in the 2015 Tour, which ended with climb up the Mur-de-Bretagne.

He was only tenth in stage two, and may have been saving his legs for this test.

Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet makes plenty of appeal at 8-1 having bossed the spring classics. The Belgian is assured raucous support from the fans, but at a bigger price it may be worth chancing Ireland's Dan Martin.

The 30-year-old was second to Valverde in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and won stage nine of the 2013 Tour having won that race. This test should bring out the best in him.

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