Marcel Kittel took the yellow jersey Saturday by being the first to arrive across the line in the first stage of the Tour de France in Harrogate. Team manager Rudi Kemna does not think the German sprinter’s jersey will be retained, but today, he puts his team at the front. 

"We are going to defend the jersey. A jersey that we will not be holding at the end of today, but we'll at least help to support the defense and let the peloton see that we have respect for the jersey," Kemna told NIS. 

The former sprinter also thinks it is going to be too tricky for the other asset of Giant-Shimano, John Degenkolb. "It depends how it goes. If the pace is slow there is a chance, but I really do not think it's going to be anyway to get him to the end in the sprint.”

Kemna also see the comparison with Liege-Bastogne-Liege and goes one step further. "I think it is even more difficult than Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The climbs are difficult and the downhill becomes even more difficult. During the descents you can not make good time, in my opinion."