Reigning Tour de France green jersey Jasper Philipsen returns to the race this weekend once again forming one half of the sprint dream team with Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Mathieu van der Poel, but the pair aren't expecting to find immediate success as the event kicks off in Tuscany.
Last year, Philipsen won at the earliest opportunity on the flat third stage in Bayonne, which came after two hilly stages in the Basque Country. This time, it's set to be a similar story with two hard opening days to Rimini and Bologna coming ahead of flatter stage 3 in Turin.
