The first road stage heads west out of Herning before turning north along the coast, then east and finally south, back towards the town when it started. It will be a nervous day for team management – if the wind’s up, some big gaps could open, and with the opening days of any Grand Tour being a nervous time in the peloton, that right-hander 500 metres from the line ahead of what should be a bunch sprint looks ominous.
On the last Giro stage outside Italy in the 2010 race, the wind blowing in from the North Sea was a big factor, causing splits in the peloton early on and contributing to a crash that took out most of Team Sky as they chased the leading bunch. You can bet the weather forecast will be scrutinised particularly carefully ahead of today’s stage, and if it’s breezy, the GC contenders as well as the sprinters’ teams will be fighting to stay near the front.
GT: It could be carnage today, depending what the wind does. You could see crosswinds, and the teams that are strong in those and are quite organised – ourselves hopefully, Rabobank, Garmin, Quick Step, GreenEdge – could do well. It will be a sprint of some sort, but it depends how big the group is coming in.
For more on this year's race read our full Giro d'Italia Preview.


2 thoughts on “Giro d’Italia 2012: Stage 2 Preview – Herning to Herning 206Km”
Well the weather forecast
Well the weather forecast says wind from west to northwest but it not going to be to windy compared to normally. It’s in my backyard so to speak ridden alot of those roads, they’re sadly riding the main roads which are smooth and not the backroads which are a lot more boneshaking.
But if it’s only gonna be 6 m/s it would seem a mass sprint is most likely, normally we have around 10-12 m/s winds from west to northwest. There are a lot of small hills along the way but hardly anything that’ll concern a pro peleton.
The ride up the coast could split it if the wind was rough but then they would have tail wind once they turn south after Struer.
And you’re missing an g in the second Herning in the titel.
Nice one Jakal, but I also
Nice one Jakal, but I also struggle to spot the G as well!