Giant-Shimano ride Tour de France Yorkshire stages: Photo gallery

Members of the Giant-Shimano team took to the roads of Yorkshire on a damp Tuesday to recce the lanes and climbs used in the opening stages of the 2014 Tour de France.

Four-time 2013 Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel was in attendance, no doubt hoping the recon will give him the knowledge to upset rival Mark Cavendish's aim to take stage wins and the yellow jersey when the race starts in Yorkshire in July.

Cycling Weekly photographer Andy Jones caught up with the team, including Kittel, Degenkolb, Tom Veelers, Koen de Kort, Albert Timmer and Bert De Backer, as they rode the final four climbs of the nine classified ascents of stage two between York and Sheffield.