From Arnhem to Nijmegen of 190km; a bunch sprint is expected.

Arnhem, 7 May 2016 – Good morning from Stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia. After yesterday’s individual time trial, today sees the first mass start stage from Arnhem to Nijmegen (190km). The stage is likely to end with a bunch sprint.

The group, 198 riders strong, passed km 0 at 12.38.

WEATHER
Arnhem (Start): Sunny, 21°C. Wind: weak – 8mph.
Nijmegen (17.15 – Finish): Sunny, 26°C. Wind: moderate – 10mph.

DOWNLOAD

Stage 1 Results
Points and time bonuses – 2016 Giro d’Italia
Il Garibaldi (Giro d’Italia Official Program)
Giro 2016 Maps

JERSEYS

Maglia Rosa (pink), General Classification leader, sponsored by Enel – Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant – Alpecin)
Maglia Rossa (red), Sprint Classification leader, sponsored by Algida – Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant – Alpecin) – The jersey will be worn today by Primoz Roglic (Team Lotto NL – Jumbo), 2nd in the classification
Maglia Azzurra (blue), King of the Mountains, sponsored by Banca Mediolanum – not yet assigned
Maglia Bianca (white), Young Rider Classification, sponsored by Eurospin – Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Giant – Alpecin)
POINTS AND TIME BONUSES

During the stage, time bonusess of 13 seconds are up for grabs. A maximum possible 90 points are available for the points classification, not to mention 3 King of the Mountains points.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1 – Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant – Alpecin)
2 – Primoz Roglic (Team Lotto NL – Jumbo) s.t.
3 – Andrey Amador (Movistar Team) at 6″

Stage 2 – ARNHEM – NIJMEGEN – 190 km
Start meeting point: Arnhem, Kerkplein
Finish: Approx. 17.15
Race Headquarters: Stadhuis Gemeente Nijmegen, Korte Nieuwstraat 6

Route
The first mass-start stage. The route runs mostly flat across the plains surrounding the start and finish towns, encountering minor climbs and gentle descents, villages, roundabouts and speed bumps. The road narrows at km 90, where the route takes in a short stretch of cycle path. Approaching the finish, the route takes in the first categorised climb of the Giro, 1.1km long, and with gradients touching 11%. The stage finale leads to an 8.6km city circuit within Nijmegen, to be covered twice. Wind is likely to be the major challenge along the route.

Final kms
The final 8.6km circuit, to be ridden twice, runs along wide, straight urban avenues, dotted with roundabouts. The route passes over the Waal River twice on bridges that have slight up- and downhill gradients. The home straight is 350 m long, on 8-m wide asphalt road. The final kilometres are slightly curved, but with no real bends.

POINTS OF INTEREST
ARNHEM – km 0
Arnhem is a major centre of the Gelderland province, known for fashion and winemaking, with wineries dating back to the Middle Ages. The city lies on the banks of the Nederrijn River and is famous for its road bridge spanning the river that was destroyed in battle and rebuilt after World War II.

Sights include the 16th-century Grote Kerk (St Eusebius church) and tall bell tower, rebuilt in 1964 after being damaged during WWII, containing one of Europe’s largest carillons, and the house of Maarten Van Rossum, built in 1830, known as Duivelshuis, “Devil’s House”, because of the subjects of its frescoes.
Landmarks include the Netherlands Open-Air Museum (Nederlands Openlucht Museum), documenting Dutch customs and folk life; the modern football stadium, Gelredome, an entirely covered structure that also hosts concerts and other events; and the lovely Sonsbeekpark, the city’s largest park.
Arnhem was hometown to physicist and Nobel Prize laureate Hendrik Lorentz (1853-1928), the painter Anton Sminck van Pitloo (1790-1837), and the actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) lived in Arnhem during WWII.

SCHAARSBERGEN – km 15
Here, in the northern part of the Veluwe region, the route enters the Hoge Veluwe Park, a national park dating from the early 20th century, home to imported wildlife and a visual arts museum.

RHENEN – km 61
Next on the stage route are Rhenen and Kesteren, in the province of Utrecht.

TIEL – km 83
Back in the province of Gelderland, Tiel is a populous town in an area famous for its apple and pear growing. The course then reaches Beneden-Leeuwen (feed zone), renowned for its wonderful windmill.

APPELTERN – km 104
The peloton passes Appeltern, where the impressive Gardens (Tuinen) have 200 different types of gardens on display.

HERNEN – km 114
In Hernen’s city centre lies the beautiful 14th century Castle Hernen.

MADDEN (intermediate sprint) – km 135 and GROESBEEK – km 140
The Liberation Museum, close to the German border, commemorates Operation Market Garden, history’s largest airborne operation (September 1944) and Operation Veritable, the Rhineland Offensive, the final road to freedom in Europe, started from here in February 1945.

BERG EN DAL (intermediate sprint) – km 147

WYLER – km 150
The route briefly crosses into the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, reaching Wyler, a small village with the lovely Sankt Johannes church.

BERG EN DAL (KOM) – km 155
The route returns to the Dutch province of Gelderland, to tackle the race’s first categorised climb in Berg en Dal (4th category).

Before reaching Nijmegen city, the route runs past the Afrika Museum with its collection of African artworks and reconstruction of an African village.

NIJMEGEN – (1st pass – km 173, 2nd pass – km 181 and finish, km 190)

The course reaches Nijmegen after passing over the modern River Waal bridge over, named “the Crossing” after the events of WWII. With a population of 170,000 and rising, Nijmegen is considered the oldest town in the Netherlands. It was founded in the Roman Age and celebrated 2000 years of history in 2005. The city is located close to the German border, in a unique setting where historic and modern buildings coexist harmoniously in the gentle rolling hills beside the Waal and Maas rivers. The outer area is scattered with “polders”, large tracts of land reclaimed from the sea and artificially drained by dikes or draining systems.

TV COVERAGE
TV coverage of the 99th Giro d’Italia will reach all four corners of the world: 184 countries will see the Corsa Rosa on 29 different networks, 24 of them live.

ITALY
RAI – Radio Televisione Italiana, the longstanding host broadcaster, provides extensive coverage of the Corsa Rosa. The action is live in three separate programmes: “Prima diretta” („Pre-Live“) on Rai Sport 1, “Giro in diretta” („Giro Live“) at 15:10 – 16:15 in simulcast on Rai 3 and Rai HD, and “Giro all’arrivo” („Giro on the Finish Line“), with the last hour of racing until 17:15. The traditional post-race analysis programme „Processo alla Tappa“ („The Stage on Trial“) ends at 18:00.
When the race reaches Italy, the stage start will be covered in Rai Sport 1’s „Giro Mattina“ („Giro Morning“), showing the signing in ceremony, with interviews, the start of racing, and local colour. The strand „Journey through the Italy of the Giro d’Italia“ will show historical and cultural anecdotes and features.
For viewers unable to watch the stage live in the afternoon, the evening show TGiro („Giro Bulletin“) will tell the story of the day’s racing from 20:00 on Rai Sport 1, followed by Giro Notte („Late Night Giro“), with 90’ of stage highlights from 22:45 on Rai Sport 2. The Corsa Rosa will be streamed on the website www.rai.tv.

AROUND THE WORLD
In Italy the Giro can also be seen live on Eurosport, broadcasting to 53 countries across Europe from 14:15, with race commentary in 19 languages.
In France, the stages are live exclusively on beINSports, with reports and features from the scene.
The Dutch public broadcaster NOS is showing three hours of live racing of the first three stages in the Netherlands, as well as the final 90 minutes of the weekend stages in Italy, plus daily highlights of every stage.
Free to air race coverage is live in Flemish via VRT, in Danish on TV2 Denmark, in Switzerland via SRG SSR, in Spain via Teledeporte and EITB and in Kazakhstan, in highlights, on Kaz Sports.
The Corsa Rosa is live in Latin America on ESPN, with Portuguese commentary in Brazil, English commentary in the Caribbean and Spanish across the rest of South America. Colombian fans have a wide range of options, with live coverage on RCN and Señal Colombia. TDN is showing the race live in Mexico and Central America. beIN Sports is covering the Giro in the United States of America and RDS is providing French-language coverage in Canada.
The Giro d’Italia is also on the small screen in the Middle East and North Africa thanks to live coverage on beIN Sports, while in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa the Giro is on the Supersport channels.
In Asia, the Corsa Rosa in available in 16 countries via Eurosport Asia Pacific; J Sports is covering the race live and exclusive in Japan. LeTV is doing the same in China.
Race highlights are on FPT Telecom in Vietnam, while the Thai public can enjoy the key parts of the stage on both True Visions and NOW26.
The huge interest that Australia has shown in the Giro continues in 2016: SBS is showing all 21 stage live, while Fox Sports is showing highlights. In New Zealand, Sky is showing the race live and in highlights.
Finally, the Corsa Rosa is being shown worldwide via SNTV – Sports News Television and Sport24, the 24 hour sports channel for airline and cruise ship passengers.

#Giro
PHOTO CREDIT: ANSA – PERI / DI MEO / ZENNARO

PHOTO CREDIT: ANSA – PERI / DI MEO / ZENNARO
VIDEO CREDIT: ANSA – BAZZI