Tour of Britain: Stage 1

André Greipel stormed to victory in the city of Newport, at the end of the Tour of Britain’s opening stage across South Wales from Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire to Newport.

Tour of Britain: Stage 1

André Greipel stormed to victory in the city of Newport, at the end of the Tour of Britain’s opening stage across South Wales from Pembrey Country Park in Carmarthenshire to Newport.

The Lotto Soudal sprinter headed home Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton SCOTT) and Fernand Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) alongside the River Usk at the end of the 175-kilometre leg.

He said: “It was really tough with the final climb coming with seven kilometres to go. We knew that we needed the numbers to pull back the break, as we expected that they’d go crazy up the climb.
The team did a really good job to bring back Bob Jungels [Quick-Step Floors]”, said Greipel afterwards, having won the opening stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain for a third time.

“I had a really good lead-out by Jasper de Buyst, so I’m happy that I could time it right and finish it off. We expected it to be a bunch sprint – I’m happy that I could win again.”

With the opening day victory Greipel takes both the OVO Energy Green Jersey and Wahoo Points Jersey heading into the second stage in Devon.

“Winning Stage One brings the leader’s jersey with it, which is always a nice thing,” explained the German, who now has six Tour of Britain stage wins to his name. “This is a big race, so it’s prestigious to wear the jersey in the race. We wanted to win a stage, so we’re happy that we made it possible on the first day.”

A six-rider break had swept up most of the day’s honours with Nicholas Dlamnini (Team Dimension Data) taking the King of the Mountains jersey and Matthew Bostock (Great Britain) the Eisberg Sprints Jersey. As the race rolled through Carmarthenshire, Powys and Monmouthshire it was Rory Townsend (Canyon Eisberg) who was the last to be caught approaching the final SKODA King of the Mountains climb at Belmont Hill on the edge of Newport, with under 10 kilometres remaining.

That sparked an attack from home favourite Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), with the Tour de France champion creating a move that dragged clear Quick-Step Floors duo Julian Alaphilppe and Bob Jungles over the top of the climb. The latter held on to his slender advantage until hitting Usk Way, being swept up by the BMC led peloton under the one-kilometre to go marker, before his teammate Gaviria hit out at the head of the sprint.

Behind the leading trio of riders in the bunch finish was Gabriel Cullaigh of Team WIGGINS, who took fourth on the road and the Best British Rider prize.

Stage Two will take place in Devon, covering 174.9km between Cranbrook and Barnstaple on the North Devon coast, passing the holiday resorts of Ilfracombe, Woolacombe and Saunton Sands in the closing kilometres.
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Stage Result
Distance : 174.800 km
1 GREIPEL André LTS GER 4h00’54” 00″ B:10″
2 EWAN Caleb MTS AUS 4h00’54” @ st B:06″
3 GAVIRIA Fernando QST COL 4h00’54” @ st B:04″
4 CULLAIGH Gabriel WGN GBR 4h00’54” @ st
5 ROELANDTS Jurgen BMC BEL 4h00’54” @ st
6 PASQUALON Andrea WGG ITA 4h00’54” @ st
7 HAYTER Ethan GBR GBR 4h00’54” @ st
8 SIMION Paolo BRD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
9 ALBANESE Vincenzo BRD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
10 POELS Wout SKY NED 4h00’54” @ st
11 CARDIS Romain TDE FRA 4h00’54” @ st
12 MODOLO Sacha EFD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
13 THEUNS Edward SUN BEL 4h00’54” @ st
14 SUTTERLIN Jasha MOV GER 4h00’54” @ st
15 THWAITES Scott DDD GBR 4h00’54” @ st
16 SWIFT Ben GBR GBR 4h00’54” @ st
17 ZABEL Rick TKA GER 4h00’54” @ st
18 BARBERO CUESTA Carlos MOV ESP 4h00’54” @ st
19 NALLY Joseph GBR GBR 4h00’54” @ st
20 LIEPINS Emils ONE LAT 4h00’54” @ st
21 DOWSETT Alex TKA GBR 4h00’54” @ st
22 BOUWMAN Koen TLJ NED 4h00’54” @ st
23 VAN EMDEN Jos TLJ NED 4h00’54” @ st
24 DE BUYST Jasper LTS BEL 4h00’54” @ st
25 POLITT Nils TKA GER 4h00’54” @ st
26 SMITH Dion WGG NZL 4h00’54” @ st
27 MEURISSE Xandro WGG BEL 4h00’54” @ st
28 ROJAS José MOV ESP 4h00’54” @ st
29 RENSHAW Mark DDD AUS 4h00’54” @ st
30 STEWART Thomas JLT GBR 4h00’54” @ st
31 EENKHOORN Pascal TLJ NED 4h00’54” @ st
32 HOFSTEDE Lennard SUN NED 4h00’54” @ st
33 BEVIN Patrick BMC NZL 4h00’54” @ st
34 BARBIN Enrico BRD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
35 CHAVANEL Sylvain TDE FRA 4h00’54” @ st
36 THOMSON Jay Robert DDD RSA 4h00’54” @ st
37 PHINNEY Taylor EFD USA 4h00’54” @ st
38 MOULD Jonathan JLT GBR 4h00’54” @ st
39 PIDCOCK Thomas WGN GBR 4h00’54” @ st
40 FERNANDEZ Ruben MOV ESP 4h00’54” @ st
41 HOLMES Matthew MGT GBR 4h00’54” @ st
42 POWLESS Neilson TLJ USA 4h00’54” @ st
43 KÜNG Stefan BMC SUI 4h00’54” @ st
44 WRIGHT Fred GBR GBR 4h00’54” @ st
45 HAMILTON Christopher SUN AUS 4h00’54” @ st
46 STEDMAN Maximilian BCC GBR 4h00’54” @ st
47 STRAKHOV Dmitrii TKA RUS 4h00’54” @ st
48 JUNGELS Bob QST LUX 4h00’54” @ st
49 VANENDERT Jelle LTS BEL 4h00’54” @ st
50 ALAPHILIPPE Julian QST FRA 4h00’54” @ st
51 BRESCHEL Matti EFD DEN 4h00’54” @ st
52 CARTHY Hugh EFD GBR 4h00’54” @ st
53 CHRISTENSEN Ryan BCC NZL 4h00’54” @ st
54 EEKHOFF Nils SUN NED 4h00’54” @ st
55 TEGGART Matthew WGN IRL 4h00’54” @ st
56 DRUCKER Jean-Pierre BMC LUX 4h00’54” @ st
57 SCHMIDT Mads Würtz TKA DEN 4h00’54” @ st
58 OURSELIN Paul TDE FRA 4h00’54” @ st
59 DAVIES Scott DDD GBR 4h00’54” @ st
60 BRADBURY Edmund JLT GBR 4h00’54” @ st
61 SEPULVEDA Eduardo MOV ARG 4h00’54” @ st
62 TENNANT Andrew BCC GBR 4h00’54” @ st
63 DE LA PARTE Victor MOV ESP 4h00’54” @ st
64 FROOME Christopher SKY GBR 4h00’54” @ st
65 MARTIN Tony TKA GER 4h00’54” @ st
66 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC USA 4h00’54” @ st
67 MCLAY Daniel EFD GBR 4h00’54” @ st
68 MCCORMICK Hayden ONE NZL 4h00’54” @ st
69 CARBONI Giovanni BRD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
70 Ariel Maximiliano QST ARG 4h00’54” @ st
71 WYNANTS Maarten TLJ BEL 4h00’54” @ st
72 TONELLI Alessandro BRD ITA 4h00’54” @ st
73 SCHACHMANN Maximilian QST GER 4h00’54” @ st
74 ANTONINI Simone WGG ITA 4h00’54” @ st
75 MEYER Cameron MTS AUS 4h00’54” @ st
76 SCOTSON Miles BMC AUS 4h00’54” @ st
77 THOMAS Geraint SKY GBR 4h00’54” @ st
78 KEUKELEIRE Jens LTS BEL 4h00’54” @ st
79 NIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel MTS ESP 4h00’54” @ st
80 MCNALLY Mark WGG GBR 4h00’54” @ st
81 WILLIAMS Stephen GBR GBR 4h00’54” @ st
82 ROGLIC Primoz TLJ SLO 4h00’54” @ st
83 WALKER Joey WGN GBR 4h00’54” @ st
84 SLATER Alistair JLT GBR 4h00’54” @ st
85 HOFLAND Moreno LTS NED 4h00’54” @ st
86 TULIK Angelo TDE FRA 4h00’54” @ st
87 ORAM James ONE NZL 4h00’54” @ st
88 KIRYIENKA Vasil SKY BLR 4h00’54” @ st
89 HIVERT Jonathan TDE FRA 4h00’54” @ st
90 POWER Rob MTS AUS 4h00’54” @ st
91 VENTER Jaco DDD RSA 4h00’54” @ st
92 SHAW James LTS GBR 4h01’19” 25″
93 SWIFT Connor MGT GBR 4h01’47” 53″
94 KLUGE Roger MTS GER 4h01’47” @ st
95 GUARDINI Andrea BRD ITA 4h03’20” 02’26”
96 BAYLIS Thomas ONE GBR 4h03’20” @ st
97 LATHAM Christopher ONE GBR 4h03’20” @ st
98 BAUHAUS Phil SUN GER 4h03’20” @ st
99 PICHOT Alexandre TDE FRA 4h03’20” @ st
100 PYM George MGT GBR 4h03’20” @ st
101 WISNIOWSKI Lukasz SKY POL 4h04’49” 03’55”
102 STANNARD Ian SKY GBR 4h04’49” @ st
103 PATON Alex BCC GBR 4h04’49” @ st
104 GARDIAS Dexter BCC GBR 4h04’49” @ st
105 DLAMINI Nicholas DDD RSA 4h04’49” @ st
106 WILLIAMS Peter ONE GBR 4h04’49” @ st
107 MOSES Thomas JLT GBR 4h04’49” @ st B:04″
108 FOUCHÉ James WGN NZL 4h04’49” @ st
109 VERVAEKE Louis SUN BEL 4h04’49” @ st
110 ROWSELL Erick MGT GBR 4h05’41” 04’47”
111 HANDLEY Richard MGT GBR 4h05’41” @ st B:02″
112 TOWNSEND Rory BCC GBR 4h05’41” @ st B:04″
113 KEISSE Iljo QST BEL 4h05’41” @ st
114 MCEVOY Jonathan MGT GBR 4h05’41” @ st
115 HAMILTON Lucas MTS AUS 4h05’41” @ st
116 DOWNEY Mark WGN IRL 4h05’41” @ st B:01″
117 BOSTOCK Matthew GBR GBR 4h05’41” @ st B:07″
118 BRIGGS Graham JLT GBR 4h06’32” 05’38”
119 FERNANDES José EFD POR 4h07’32” 06’38”
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