Favorites for stage 1 Tour of the Alps | Climbers straight out of the gate with ferociously steep penultimate climb

The stage starts in the small Austrian town of Rattenberg. From there, the peloton races over rugged terrain. The riders encounter a few uncategorized climbs of about one and a half kilometers, with gradients between six and seven percent.

The second half of the stage is kicked off by a longer climb, the Brandenberg (6.1 km at 6.1 percent). The descent from this climb is immediately followed by an uncategorized nasty jumble that is 1.6 kilometers long, with a gradient of almost ten percent. Next, the course runs downhill for a bit longer, until the intermediate sprint at 24 kilometers from the finish.

The intermediate sprint follows a two-kilometer climb at 5.6 percent. Hence, any of the general classification contenders who want to gain a bit of an advantage will have to burn some extra energy here. After the intermediate sprint, there is a short, fast descent, following which the riders slam into the Kershbaumer Sattell – figuratively speaking, that is.

This second-category climb is relentless, with an average of 10.2 percent over five kilometers. The first kilometer is the "easiest" section, at eight percent. From there onwards, it's constantly at least ten percent. This is where the race will completely explode. After a fast descent of five kilometers, the stage ends with a grueling section leading up to the final 1.1 kilometers, which has an average gradient of 8.9 percent.

Climbs 80.7 km: Brandenberg (6.1 km at 6.1%) 116.2 km: Kerschbaumer Sattel (5.2 km at 10.2%) 127.5 km: Alpbach (6.2 km at 4.8%)

Times Start: 11.55 AM Finish: 15.15 PM

The riders will depart from Rattenberg under excellent conditions: 12 degrees, dry weather, with a moderate wind from the east. In the higher-altitude town of Alpbach, where the finish line is, it won’t be much colder – around 9 degrees. However, it will be cloudier there and there is a chance of a little rain.

Those who are looking to claim the overall victory cannot hide and will have to immediately show their cards on day one. Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) has not been very remarkable this season and seems to be slowly building up towards his main goal, the Giro d'Italia. Will he give off a first signal of approaching top shape? Should Vlasov fail, his teammates Lennard Kämna and the talented Cian Uijtdebroeks could take over.

Only INEOS Grenadiers can match the luxury of BORA. With former Giro winner Tao Geoghegan Hart, they have a rock solid asset. So far, this season the Brit has been consistently performing at a high level. Geoghegan Hart is also capable of pulling off an excellent sprint in case of an explosive finish. We are also interested in Thymen Arensman and Pavel Sivakov of INEOS. We have some doubts about Geraint Thomas’ chances, due to his difficult spring season so far.

Bahrain Victorious will have to rely on Santiago Buitrago and Jack Haig. Of the two, this year, Buitrago has made the biggest impression so far. Do not underestimate the Colombian on an explosive finish. EF Education-EasyPost also has a strong duo for mountain stages in Rigoberto Uran and Hugh Carthy. Movistar will need to rely on Iván Sosa, Antonio Pedrero or Óscar Rodriguez.

We are also looking forward to the performance of Domenico Pozzovivo (Israel-Premier Tech). The 40-year-old pocket climber is in good shape. If he wants to win, he will have to go solo on the penultimate climb. We do not consider him strong enough for the explosive finish. Harm Vanhoucke and Andreas Leknessund of Team DSM should also be able to perform well. Other contenders are Lorenzo Fortunato (EOLO-Kometa), Damien Howson (Q36.5), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) and Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën).

Aleksandr Vlasov: 3.00 Tao Geoghegan Hart: 3.75 Pavel Sivakov: 7.50 Santiago Buitrago: 12.00 Felxi Gall: 13.00

Top favorites: Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS Grenadiers) Outsiders: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost), Domenico Pozzovivo (Israel-Premier Tech), Thymen Arensman, Pavel Sivakov (beide INEOS Grenadiers) and Lennard Kämna (BORA-hansgrohe) Longshots: Cian Uijtdebroeks (BORA-hansgrohe), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Lorenzo Fortunato (EOLO-Kometa), Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), Iván Sosa (Movistar), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën) and Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM)