Feature Report: Tour of Britain Stage 2

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Czech National champion Petr Vakoc produced the ride of his life to hold off the peloton after a thrilling solo attack into Colne to take Stage Two of the Aviva Tour of Britain.

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Feature Report: Tour of Britain Stage 2

Stage 2 Clitheroe to Colne | Monday 7 September

Report

A Sweetspot Press Release

Czech National champion Petr Vakoc produced the ride of his life to hold off the peloton after a thrilling solo attack into Colne to take Stage Two of the Aviva Tour of Britain.

201-5_ToB_Stage3_01_Winner

The economics student measured his effort well on the Pendle roads to take victory on Colne’s High Street by seven-seconds from Juan Jose Lobato, with former race winner Edvald Boasson Hagen a further two seconds back in third, as the finishing drag took its toll on the 45-rider chasing group.

Vakoc was well rewarded for his monumental effort, taking over the leader’s Aviva Yellow Jersey and earning a rapturous reception from the Colne locals who have a soft spot for individuals who don’t quit no matter how tough the going gets. This is after all the birthplace of Wallace Hartley, the leader of the band who famously ‘played on’ when the Titanic sank.

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Just 23 and a fast emerging talent, plus a Gold medallist at the World Student Games, Vakoc took off with about 16-kilometres to go when an eight man break started to run out of steam and disintegrate on the rolling Lancashire roads.

The peloton gave chase with Lotto Soudal trying to manufacture a sprint opportunity for Andre Greipel but on tough and sometimes narrow roads they struggled to get on terms. Vakoc never seemed to pull ahead decisively but nor did the bunch every quite get on terms. It was classic hare and hound stuff and this time the hare won.

As he came into Colne, about 15 seconds to the good, the only thing that could derail the Czech Road Race Champion was a gruelling final kilometre drag but although you could see the pain and effort he seemed to get strong as he negotiated the ascent to win in style.

Juan Jose Lobato of Movistar chased him home seven second back with Edvald Boasson Hagen a further two seconds adrift, with the same order at the top of the Aviva General Classification.
Lobato’s second placed moved him into the lead of the Chain Reaction Cycles Points competition while Owain Doull of Team WIGGINS again rode well to take seventh place on the road and the Premier Inn Best British Rider lead.

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Peter Williams on home roads out front on his own ….

“It is a beautiful day and a big success for me, probably the biggest win of my career,” said Vakoc. “I didn’t really expect a ride like this morning but I woke up with good sensations. Normally I am not so good when there is a very hard start to a stage but today I felt good.

“Our tactics were to get in a break as it didn’t seem like it was going to be a sprint day. I managed to get in the eight main eight man break with 50-kilometres to go and we worked quite well but we weren’t going fast enough and the bunch was catching us so I tried my luck.

“I thought somebody would come with me but the next moment I was alone. There was a long way to go but I felt good and decided to press hard. It was a tough finish but that suited me well. I kept a little back and in the final 500m I imagined I was in a bunch sprit and rode like that. I was very tired at the end but it was worth it.”

Vakoc has suspended his studies for an Economics degree because his professional racing career has taken off so dramatically recently and he decided it was too much to combine the two.

His form this year had been impressive with a win in the Czech National Championships and a Bronze medal in the in the inaugural European Games road race, then recently overall victory in his national Tour. Last year, his first with Etixx Quick-Step, he recorded a stage win at the Tour of Poland and took time off from the professional peloton to win both the Road Race and Time Trial at the World University Championships at Jelenia Gora, also in Poland.

201-5_ToB_Stage3_01_Williams

Pete Williams (One Pro Cycling) is now Sprinters leader, a competition he has won overall before

In the YodelDirect Sprint competition Peter Williams of ONE Pro Cycling Cycling reaped the benefit of aggressively getting in the early break and securing enough points to move one ahead of Pim Ligthart with erstwhile leader Conor Dunne a further point back.

It was the second day that Williams, who lives locally at Skipton and trains on the roads of the Ribble Valley and Pendle, animated the early break, at one point gaining over four minutes and briefly being joined at the head of the race by Alex Dowsett. For his efforts Williams, who won the YodelDirect Sprints Jersey in 2012, was also rewarded with the day’s Rouleur Combativity Award.

“I know the road and went out on the course last week and it’s a bit of an advantage,” said Williams afterwards. “You know where the tricky bits and dodgy corners are. It was always going to be a hard grippy day. I wasn’t looking for the jersey really, I was just trying to get in a good break but by doing that you can put yourself in contention.”

In the SKODA King of the Mountains classification it was another local rider, Preston’s Ian Bibby, who was the star of the day, leading the race over the first two climbs of the day – Nick o’Pendle and Bleara Moor – but it was Madison Genesis rider Tom Stewart who pulled on the jersey, after adding to his points haul from Stage One.

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KoM leader Tom Stewart of Madison Genesis

Stage Three sees the longest stage of the race so far at 216-kilometres, starting in Cumbria at Cockermouth at 10.15, before crossing the border north into Scotland, heading through Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders, before the finish at Floors Castle on the outskirts of Kelso.

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Yellow jersey Elia Viviani with Sprints jersey wearer Conor Dunne

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A huge crowd at Clithero for the start of stage 2

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Alex Dowsett on his chase after Peter Williams

201-5_ToB_Stage3_01_Doull

First British rider award for Owain Doull.

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Mark Cavendish gives Taylor Phinney a hug at the start of the stage.

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A shattered Ian Bibby (NFTO) after a stage where he mounted a challenge for the KoM classification on home roads.

Results

Stage 2

1 VAKOC Petr EQS 04:02:22
2 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV 7
3 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN 9
4 GULDHAMMER Rasmus CLT ST
5 TRENTIN Matteo EQS ST
6 DOULL Owain WGN ST
7 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS ST
8 TEUNS Dylan BMC ST
9 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV ST
10 MEGIAS LEAL Javier TNN ST
11 KENNAUGH Peter SKY ST
12 INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat MOV ST
13 BRIGGS Graham JLT ST
14 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ST
15 GERTS Floris BMC ST
16 LOZANO RIBA David TNN ST
17 BIBBY Ian NPC ST
18 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TLJ ST
19 STYBAR Zdenek EQS ST
20 MEURISSE Xandro SKT ST
21 VAN BAARLE Dylan TCG ST
22 ZEPUNTKE Ruben TCG ST
23 KISERLOVSKI Robert TCS ST
24 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando EQS ST
25 HART Tao Geoghegan GBR ST
26 HANDLEY Richard JLT ST
27 MOSES Thomas JLT ST
28 SÖRENSEN Chris Anker TCS ST
29 QUAADE Rasmus Christian CLT ST
30 POELS Wouter SKY ST
31 ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor MOV ST
32 PAUWELS Serge MTN ST
33 PHINNEY Taylor BMC 21
34 DE BIE Sean LTS ST
35 SLATER Alistair SKT ST
36 BOUWMAN Koen TLJ ST
37 SWIFT Ben SKY ST
38 MORKOV Michael TCS ST
39 LANGEVELD Sebastian TCG 30
40 TANKINK Bram TLJ ST
41 CLEMENT Stef IAM ST
42 PETERS Alex GBR ST
43 KUENG Stefan BMC 32
44 DENIFL Stefan IAM 34
45 WYSS Danilo BMC 36
46 DAVIES Scott GBR ST
47 MARANGONI Alan TCG 01:08
48 BETTIOL Alberto TCG ST
49 MCEVOY Jonathan NPC 01:10
50 GREIPEL André LTS 01:53
51 SIEBERG Marcel LTS 02:40
52 FRISON Frederik LTS ST
53 LIGTHART Pim LTS 03:32
54 MCNALLY Mark MGT 04:47
55 ENGER Sondre Holst IAM ST
56 HUNT Joshua ONE 06:51
57 APPLEBY Dale NPC ST
58 TOLHOEK Antwan TCS 08:05
59 CARTHY Hugh GBR ST
60 HARPER George ONE 09:38
61 CHEVRIER Clement IAM 10:43
62 CUMING Michael JLT 10:50
63 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel MTN 11:47
64 DOMAGALSKI Karol RAL 18:27
65 OLIPHANT Evan RAL 21:53
66 CAVENDISH Mark EQS ST
67 HAWDON Andrew RAL ST
68 DOWNING Russell CLT ST
69 WEGMANN Fabian CLT ST
70 RENSHAW Mark EQS ST
71 LAMPIER Steven RAL ST
72 PARTRIDGE Robert NPC ST
73 HOLMES Matthew MGT ST
74 SVENDGAARD Michael Carbel CLT ST
75 PYM George RAL ST
76 MORTENSEN Martin CLT ST
77 PLANET Charles TNN ST
78 DOWSETT Alex MOV ST
79 DIBBEN Jonathan WGN ST
80 MULLEN Ryan TCG ST
81 WOOD Oliver GBR ST
82 WILLIAMS Peter ONE ST
83 HOUSE Kristian JLT ST
84 LOWSLEY WILLIAMS James NPC ST
85 BIALOBLOCKI Marcin ONE ST
86 CULLAIGH Gabriel GBR ST
87 HENTTALA Joonas TNN ST
88 KNEISKY Morgan RAL ST
89 VANGENECHTEN Jonas IAM ST
90 FARRAR Tyler MTN ST
91 SAGAN Juraj TCS ST
92 TRUSOV Nikolay TCS ST
93 THOMPSON Michael WGN ST
94 PERON Andrea TNN ST
95 VIVIANI Elia SKY ST
96 KRUOPIS Aidis SKT ST
97 WILSON Jack SKT ST
98 SISKEVICIUS Paulius SKT ST
99 DUNBAR Eddie NPC ST
100 CRONSHAW Mathew MGT ST
101 CIOLEK Gerald MTN ST
102 DE MESMAEKER Kevin TNN ST
103 OPIE Chris ONE ST
104 KLUGE Roger IAM ST
105 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt MTN ST
106 WIGGINS Bradley WGN ST
107 BARKER Yanto ONE ST
108 DUNNE Conor SKT ST
109 STEWART Thomas MGT ST
110 SCULLY Thomas MGT ST
111 FENN Andrew SKY ST
112 STANNARD Ian SKY ST
113 TENNANT Andrew WGN ST
114 CLANCY Edward JLT ST

DNF
BULGAC Brian TLJ
HOFLAND Moreno TLJ
LAWLESS Christopher WGN
VAN DER LIJKE Nick TLJ

KoMs

Nick o Pendle
1 BIBBY Ian NPC 10
2 MCNALLY Mark MGT 9
3 DE BIE Sean LTS 8
4 HART Tao Geoghegan GBR 7
5 KENNAUGH Peter SKY 6
6 VAKOC Petr EQS 5
7 STEWART Thomas MGT 4
8 MEURISSE Xandro SKT 3
9 KUENG Stefan BMC 2
10 SWIFT Ben SKY 1
KoM 2

1 BIBBY Ian NPC 10
2 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TLJ 9
3 VAKOC Petr EQS 8
4 KENNAUGH Peter SKY 7
5 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando EQS 6
6 WYSS Danilo BMC 5
7 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN 4
8 TEUNS Dylan BMC 3
9 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV 2
10 TRENTIN Matteo EQS 1

KoM 3
1 POELS Wouter SKY 6
2 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV 5
3 PETERS Alex GBR 4
4 PAUWELS Serge MTN 3
5 BETTIOL Alberto TCG 2
6 WYSS Danilo BMC 1

OVERALL
1 VAKOC Petr EQS 08:28:41
2 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV 11
3 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN 15
4 GERTS Floris BMC 17
5 POELS Wouter SKY 18
6 VAN BAARLE Dylan TCG ST
7 DOULL Owain WGN 19
8 BRIGGS Graham JLT ST
9 GULDHAMMER Rasmus CLT ST
10 PAUWELS Serge MTN 25
11 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando EQS 26
12 TEUNS Dylan BMC 27
13 TRENTIN Matteo EQS ST
14 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ST
15 KISERLOVSKI Robert TCS ST
16 STYBAR Zdenek EQS ST
17 ZEPUNTKE Ruben TCG ST
18 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka MOV ST
19 MEGIAS LEAL Javier TNN ST
20 LOZANO RIBA David TNN ST
21 HART Tao Geoghegan GBR ST
22 INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat MOV ST
23 KRUIJSWIJK Steven TLJ ST
24 SÖRENSEN Chris Anker TCS ST
25 DEBUSSCHERE Jens LTS ST
26 QUAADE Rasmus Christian CLT ST
27 MEURISSE Xandro SKT ST
28 MOSES Thomas JLT ST
29 BIBBY Ian NPC ST
30 HANDLEY Richard JLT ST
31 ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor MOV ST
32 SWIFT Ben SKY 31
33 MORKOV Michael TCS ST
34 KENNAUGH Peter SKY 39
35 DE BIE Sean LTS ST
36 BOUWMAN Koen TLJ ST
37 PHINNEY Taylor BMC ST
38 SLATER Alistair SKT ST
39 TANKINK Bram TLJ 40
40 LANGEVELD Sebastian TCG 48
41 PETERS Alex GBR ST
42 CLEMENT Stef IAM ST
43 KUENG Stefan BMC 50
44 DENIFL Stefan IAM 52
45 WYSS Danilo BMC 54
46 DAVIES Scott GBR ST
47 BETTIOL Alberto TCG 01:18
48 MCEVOY Jonathan NPC 01:20
49 MARANGONI Alan TCG 01:26
50 GREIPEL André LTS 01:59
51 SIEBERG Marcel LTS 02:58
52 LIGTHART Pim LTS 03:34
53 FRISON Frederik LTS 04:12
54 MCNALLY Mark MGT 04:57
55 ENGER Sondre Holst IAM 05:05
56 APPLEBY Dale NPC 07:09
57 HUNT Joshua ONE ST
58 TOLHOEK Antwan TCS 08:23
59 CARTHY Hugh GBR 08:38
60 HARPER George ONE 09:56
61 CHEVRIER Clement IAM 11:01
62 CUMING Michael JLT 11:20
63 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel MTN 12:05
64 DOMAGALSKI Karol RAL 18:45
65 VIVIANI Elia SKY 21:53
66 CAVENDISH Mark EQS 21:57
67 WILLIAMS Peter ONE 22:02
68 RENSHAW Mark EQS 22:03
69 SVENDGAARD Michael Carbel CLT ST
70 FARRAR Tyler MTN ST
71 VANGENECHTEN Jonas IAM ST
72 PERON Andrea TNN ST
73 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt MTN ST
74 OPIE Chris ONE ST
75 BARKER Yanto ONE ST
76 HOUSE Kristian JLT 22:08
77 STEWART Thomas MGT 22:09
78 DOWSETT Alex MOV 22:11
79 WEGMANN Fabian CLT ST
80 OLIPHANT Evan RAL ST
81 WOOD Oliver GBR ST
82 DOWNING Russell CLT ST
83 CULLAIGH Gabriel GBR ST
84 TRUSOV Nikolay TCS ST
85 MULLEN Ryan TCG ST
86 SAGAN Juraj TCS ST
87 MORTENSEN Martin CLT ST
88 STANNARD Ian SKY ST
89 LAMPIER Steven RAL ST
90 PLANET Charles TNN ST
91 HOLMES Matthew MGT ST
92 LOWSLEY WILLIAMS James NPC ST
93 SCULLY Thomas MGT ST
94 BIALOBLOCKI Marcin ONE ST
95 CIOLEK Gerald MTN ST
96 TENNANT Andrew WGN ST
97 SISKEVICIUS Paulius SKT ST
98 CRONSHAW Mathew MGT ST
99 DUNNE Conor SKT 22:19
100 HAWDON Andrew RAL 22:23
101 PYM George RAL 22:25
102 KNEISKY Morgan RAL 22:26
103 THOMPSON Michael WGN 22:30
104 KRUOPIS Aidis SKT ST
105 WIGGINS Bradley WGN 22:32
106 DIBBEN Jonathan WGN 22:35
107 DUNBAR Eddie NPC ST
108 PARTRIDGE Robert NPC 22:42
109 HENTTALA Joonas TNN 23:42
110 KLUGE Roger IAM 23:43
111 WILSON Jack SKT 23:55
112 DE MESMAEKER Kevin TNN 24:41:00
113 FENN Andrew SKY ST
114 CLANCY Edward JLT ST
KoM
1 STEWART Thomas GBR MGT 23
2 BIBBY Ian GBR NPC 20
3 HOUSE Kristian GBR JLT 20
4 WILLIAMS Peter GBR ONE 17
5 VAKOC Petr CZE EQS 17
6 DUNNE Conor IRL SKT 14
7 KENNAUGH Peter GBR SKY 13
8 MCNALLY Mark GBR MGT 11
9 KRUIJSWIJK Steven NED TLJ 9
10 DE BIE Sean BEL LTS 8
11 FERNANDEZ Ruben ESP MOV 7
12 HART Tao Geoghegan GBR GBR 7

Sprints
1 WILLIAMS Peter GBR ONE 9
2 LIGTHART Pim NED LTS 8
3 DUNNE Conor IRL SKT 7
4 HOUSE Kristian GBR JLT 3
5 GERTS Floris NED BMC 2
6 PAUWELS Serge BEL MTN 2
7 STEWART Thomas GBR MGT 2
8 POELS Wouter NED SKY 1
9 VAN BAARLE Dylan NED TCG 1
10 GAVIRIA RENDON Fernando COL EQS 1

TEAMS
1 ETIXX – QUICK STEP 25h26’51” 00″
2 JLT CONDOR 25h27’08” 17″
3 TEAM SKY 25h27’12” 21″
4 MOVISTAR TEAM 25h27’14” 23″
5 BMC RACING TEAM 25h27’28” 37″

Points
1 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose ESP MOV 25
2 DOULL Owain GBR WGN 22
3 VAKOC Petr CZE EQS 15
4 VIVIANI Elia ITA SKY 15
5 CAVENDISH Mark GBR EQS 14
6 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald NOR MTN 13
7 71 GREIPEL André GER LTS 13

ToB_Stage2_Map

STAGES
Stage 1 | Sunday 6 September Beaumaris, Anglesey to Wrexham, 177.7km
Stage 2 | Monday 7 September Clitheroe to Colne, 159.3km
Stage 3 | Tuesday 8 September Cockermouth to Floors Castle, Kelso, 216km
Stage 4 | Wednesday 9 September Edinburgh to Blyth, 217.4km
Stage 5 | Thursday 10 September Prudhoe to Hartside, 166.2km
Stage 6 | Friday 11 September Stoke-on-Trent to Nottingham, 192.8km
Stage 7 | Saturday 12 September Fakenham to Ipswich, 227.4km
Stage 8 | Sunday 13 September London stage presented by TfL, 86.8km
TEAMS

UCI WorldTeams
BMC Racing (USA)
Etixx Quick-Step (Belgium)
IAM Cycling (Switzerland)
Lotto Soudal (Belgium)
Movistar Team (Spain)
Team Cannondale – Garmin (USA)
Team Lotto NL Jumbo (Netherlands)
Team Sky (Great Britain)
Tinkoff – Saxo (Russia)

UCI Pro Continental teams
Cult Energy Pro Cycling (Denmark)
MTN Qhubeka (South Africa)
Team Novo Nordisk (USA)

UCI Continental teams
An Post Chain Reaction (Ireland)
JLT Condor presented by Mavic (Great Britain)
Madison Genesis (Great Britain)
NFTO (Great Britain)
ONE Pro Cycling (Great Britain)
Team Raleigh GAC (Great Britain)
Team WIGGINS (Great Britain)

National Teams
Great Britain Cycling Team

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