Deutschland Tour 2024 | 2nd stage | Friday, 23 August | - Heilbronn - Schwäbisch Gmünd | 174.6 kilometres
A Swabian Alb dream for the sprinters?
It gets even hillier than the day before. The route first leads into the Swabian-Franconian forest mountains, then into the Swabian Alb. The toughest climb to date awaits after around 130 kilometres up to Lauterburg. The average gradient on the 2.7 kilometre long ascent is 8.3 per cent - at its peak it is 13 per cent. The section is probably too far from the finish to be decisive for the race. But the legs of many a sprinter could get tired here. And perhaps their heads too, if they remember that a ramp awaits them shortly before the finish in Schwäbisch Gmünd, dashing their hopes of taking part in the final sprint.
Hotspot for fans: the finishing circuit in Schwäbisch Gmünd
The route there is a spectator-friendly ten-kilometre lap that has to be completed twice. Around 1.5 kilometres before the finish line in Oberbettringer Straße, there are bonus seconds to be won in Oberbettringen, which could be decisive for the contenders for overall victory. Shortly before the classification, the Neue Straße climbs up to almost ten per cent - which could really hurt some sprinters' legs on the third crossing. Especially as the strong climbing classification contenders will do everything they can to realise time gains for the overall classification here at a hell of a pace. There are 3-2-1 seconds for the top three in the classification. At the finish, 10, 6 and 4 seconds await the three fastest riders of the day.
Stage 2 of the Deutschland Tour 2024 - schedule, TV coverage and live stream
- Friday, 23 August 2024
- Start: 12:20 pm in the Kirchbrunnenstraße in Heilbronn
- Finish: from 16:38 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Oberbettringer Straße
- Live broadcast: 15:10 - 17:00
- TV: ARD; live stream: sportschau.de and Discovery Plus
- The start list for the Deutschland Tour 2024
This is the Deutschland Tour 2024
The Deutschland Tour is entering its sixth round since its relaunch in 2018. This time, a total of 748 kilometres will be covered. In addition to the blue jersey for the overall winner (red last year, won by Ilan van Wilder), there is the green jersey for the best points scorer (2023 Ethan Vernon), the dotted jersey for the best climber (2023 Harm Vanhoucke) and a newly introduced white community jersey for the best rider of the day, which is voted for by fans via Instagram. The leading team in the team classification will also receive yellow back numbers.
The Deutschland Tour is organised by the Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Radsports (GFR), a subsidiary of the Amaury Sports Organisation (A.S.O.), which organises the Tour de France every year.
All stages at a glance
- Wednesday, 21 August, Prologue: Schweinfurt - Schweinfurt, 2.9 km
- Thursday, 22 August, 1st stage: Schweinfurt - Heilbronn, 176.3 km
- Friday, 23rd August, 2nd stage: Heilbronn - Schwäbisch Gmünd, 174.6 km
- Saturday, 24 August, 3rd stage: Schwäbisch Gmünd - Villingen-Schwenningen, 211.1 km
- Sunday, 25 August, 4th stage: Annweiler am Trifels - Saarbrücken, 182.7 km
- All stages at a glance
Everyman race
On the last day of the Deutschland Tour 2024 (25 August), amateur cyclists can take part in the "Cycling Tour" everyman race around Saarbrücken. There are two routes to choose from: one with 56 kilometres and around 600 metres of elevation gain and a longer route with 100 kilometres and around 1000 metres of elevation gain.
Newcomer Tour
The Newcomer Tour stops in Villingen-Schwenningen on 24 August and in Saarbrücken on 25 August. This talent show in women's cycling offers U17 riders the opportunity to prove themselves on two challenging one-day stages.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
