Tonight’s stage will begin in Orchies and finish 197kms later in Boulogne-sur-Mer and contains four Cat 4 climbs along the route of which one will be the finish. The first 90kms are relatively flat but following the food station at Thérouanne the riders will face almost 100kms of undulating roads. This will be a stage in which the yellow jersey could change hands for the first time in 2012 but regardless of whether the jersey changes hands, it is a stage that the GC men will need to be paying attention to. A stage like this could see one of the GC riders who aren’t very strong in the ITT attempt to gain some precious seconds over their rivals. A breakaway may not be given any time to escape as having to focus on numerous groups on the group could cause some big time splits. Jurgen van den Broeck may just be one of those riders looking for time tonight. Beside a possible move made by the GC men expect Philippe Gilbert , Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara, Sylvain Chavanel and the riders who focus on the Classics as they will have looked at the stage profile and pencilled in Stage Three as a possible win. The finish line will be a little steeper and harder than Stage One and with so many undulations appearing before the finish a more select group may arrive at the base of the last climb than they did in Seraing.
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