Tour of Britain: Stage 1

After a long day out for the breakaway, the race comes together for a bunch sprint won by Wout van Aert, Jacob Scott leads Sprints & KoM jersey

Tour of Britain: Stage 1

Event Press Release

Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo – Visma) sprinted to victory in the opening stage of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain heading home Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM) and Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar Team).

Van Aert followed a Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) attack with 500 metres go before jumping off his wheel with less than 300 metres remaining to open up his sprint which couldn’t be matched on the St Nicholas Street climb. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) had buried himself in the services of teammate Alaphilippe before pulling off with two kilometres to go, leaving INEOS Grenadiers to lead the race out onto the final sting in the tail in Bodmin but it was ultimately Alaphilippe and van Aert dictating matters.

With the stage victory – on his AJ Bell Tour of Britain debut – van Aert moves into the race lead with a four-second advantage over Eekhoff with Serrano a further two seconds in arrears. Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) is the top Brit in fourth overall, the same spot as his Stage One finishing position.

Speaking after the stage, Wout van Aert said; “Being here it was almost overwhelming seeing the amount if crowds at the side of the roads, we have been missing this in the last two years and it’s nice to see people outside again and especially in a crowd together, it’s nice to see people are so crazy about cycling, it makes it more beautiful when we win.

“It was a tough stage. It was good for me to adapt to these kind of roads and to get used to them. The stage was controlled and yeah racing, high speeds and obviously on a first day of a race everybody is still fresh so it was a big battle to be at the front for the sprint. My teammates helped me secure a good position and I think I did the right timing in the sprint.”

Looking ahead to the remaining seven days van Aert identified the AJ Bell Tour of Britain’s two Welsh stages on Tuesday and Wednesday as key to his ambitions for the week.

“The team time-trial is obviously a really important event here for the reputation the team has in time trials. It will be important for the GC as well and I think on stage four we have the queen stage with a super hard finish so I’m definitely focussing on that one, and then afterwards we’ll see where my position is in the GC before the last four stages.

“It’s a really important race and a nice race to do but on the other hand I’m here to try and race into the best legs possible going into the Worlds. We’ll see after stage four what’s good and what’s possible.”

While van Aert also takes the Sportsbreaks.com Points jersey, it was Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod) who started the defence of his 2019 ŠKODA King of the Mountains by infiltrating the day’s breakaway to come home with both the climbers’ jersey and the red Eisberg Sprints jersey.

Scott, along with fellow Brits Max Walker (TRINITY Racing) and Oliver Stockwell (Great Britain national team), had kept the Cornish crowds entertained alongside South Africa’s Nic Dlamini (Team Qhubeka NextHash) and US National champion Joey Rosskopf (Rally Cycling) – the latter celebrating his birthday – by sweeping up all of the primes on route until eventually being swept up by the peloton on the way to Bodmin.

As well as the victory van Aert was also able to enjoy Cornwall as the AJ Bell Tour of Britain held its first ever stage in the county, and the south west scenery has provided a hit with the Jumbo Visma rider.

“It’s really beautiful. Unfortunately today was quite grey , but yesterday the sun was out and we did a really nice ride close to our hotel and actually I was surprised about the nature and yeah it’s a holiday destination for me. I didn’t know much about the UK so hopefully I’ll start to learn more.”

The race in the south west on Stage Two (Monday 6 September) with a 183.9-kilometre (114.4-mile) stage from Sherford to Exeter, taking in Devon’s South Hams and the Dartmoor National Park.

The AJ Bell Tour of Britain is sponsored by AJ Bell, one of the UK’s leading online investment platforms, helping people invest for the long term via ISAs, pensions and general investment accounts. It has a rich history of supporting elite level sport including badminton, cricket, rugby, squash and triathlon.

Stage 1
1 Wout Van Aert Jumbo-Visma 04:33:36
2 Nils Eekhoff Team DSM
3 Gonzalo Serrano Movistar Team
4 Ethan Hayter INEOS Grenadiers
5 Rory Townsend Canyon DHB Sungod @ 02
6 Michael Woods Israel Start-Up Nation @ 02
7 Giacomo Nizzolo Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 02
8 Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 02
9 Xandro Meurisse Alpecin-Fenix @ 02
10 Kristian Sbaragli Alpecin-Fenix @ 02
11 Robert Donaldson Great Britain @ 02
12 James Shaw Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 02
13 Mikkel Honore Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 02
14 Matteo Jorgenson Movistar Team @ 02
15 Connor Swift Arkéa-Samsic @ 02
16 Daniel Martin Israel Start-Up Nation @ 02
17 Michal Kwiatkowski INEOS Grenadiers @ 02
18 Simon Clarke Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 02
19 Alex Peters SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 07
20 Mark Donovan Team DSM @ 07
21 Maxime Bouet Arkéa-Samsic @ 07
22 Rohan Dennis INEOS Grenadiers @ 07
23 Joel Nicolau Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 12
24 Pascal Eenkhoorn Jumbo-Visma @ 12
25 Owain Doull INEOS Grenadiers @ 12
26 Gavin Mannion Rally Cycling @ 12
27 Michal Paluta Global 6 Cycling @ 12
28 Nicolas Roche Team DSM @ 12
29 Colin Joyce Rally Cycling @ 12
30 Gabriel Cullaigh Movistar Team @ 12
31 Thomas Mein Canyon DHB Sungod @ 12
32 Silvan Dillier Alpecin-Fenix @ 12
33 Matthew Gibson Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 12
34 Charles Page Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 12
35 Ryan Christensen Canyon DHB Sungod @ 12
36 Luke Lamperti Trinity Racing @ 19
37 Robin Carpenter Rally Cycling @ 20
38 Rudy Porter Trinity Racing @ 20
39 Lukasz Owsian Arkéa-Samsic @ 23
40 Thomas Gloag Trinity Racing @ 29
41 Romain Combaud Team DSM @ 39
42 Sean Bennett Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 44
43 Marc Soler Movistar Team @ 50
44 Carlos Rodriguez INEOS Grenadiers @ 01:14
45 Jon Barrenetxea Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 01:14
46 David González Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 01:14
47 Nickolas Zukowsky Rally Cycling @ 01:14
48 Alexandar Richardson Alpecin-Fenix @ 01:14
49 Yves Lampaert Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 01:19
50 Tim Naberman Team DSM @ 01:20
51 Davide Ballerini Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 01:22
52 George Bennett Jumbo-Visma @ 01:22
53 Joey Rosskopf Rally Cycling @ 01:22
54 Steve Lampier Saint Piran @ 01:22
55 Sergio Martin Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 01:22
56 Ethan Vernon Great Britain @ 01:22
57 Max Stedman Canyon DHB Sungod @ 01:22
58 Ollie Peckover SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 01:22
59 Mark Cavendish Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 01:22
60 Ross Lamb SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 01:22
61 Tim Declercq Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 01:22
62 Christopher Blevins Trinity Racing @ 01:22
63 Mauro Schmid Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 01:22
64 Max Walker Trinity Racing @ 01:22
65 Leon Mazzone Saint Piran @ 01:22
66 Richie Porte INEOS Grenadiers @ 01:22
67 Mason Hollyman Israel Start-Up Nation @ 01:22
68 Carlos Barbero Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 01:22
69 Hans Becking Global 6 Cycling @ 01:22
70 Josu Etxeberria Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 01:22
71 Chris Harper Jumbo-Visma @ 01:22
72 Max Kanter Team DSM @ 01:22
73 James Mitri Global 6 Cycling @ 01:22
74 Gruff Lewis Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 01:22
75 Gijs Leemreize Jumbo-Visma @ 02:18
76 Jokin Murguialday Elorza Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @ 02:41
77 Alex Dowsett Israel Start-Up Nation @ 02:54
78 Oliver Stockwell Great Britain @ 03:14
79 Dario Cataldo Movistar Team @ 03:49
80 Rhys Britton Great Britain @ 03:49
81 André Greipel Israel Start-Up Nation @ 04:28
82 Tony Martin Jumbo-Visma @ 04:28
83 Jacob Scott Mountain jerseySprint jersey Canyon DHB Sungod @ 04:28
84 Nicolas Sessler Global 6 Cycling @ 04:52
85 William Bjergfelt SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 07:30
86 Ross Holland Saint Piran @ 07:30
87 Nicholas Dlamini Team Qhubeka NextHash @ 07:30
88 Simon Wilson Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 07:30
89 Andy Turner SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 07:30
90 Reto Hollenstein Israel Start-Up Nation @ 07:30
91 William Tidball Great Britain @ 07:30
92 Max Rushby Great Britain @ 07:30
93 Ben Tulett Alpecin-Fenix @ 07:30
94 Daniel Bigham Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling @ 07:30
95 Daniel McLay Arkéa-Samsic @ 07:30
96 Bradley Symonds Saint Piran @ 07:30
97 Christopher Latham SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling @ 07:30
98 Matthew Bostock Canyon DHB Sungod @ 07:30
99 Tom Mazzone Saint Piran @ 07:30
100 Jimmy Janssens Alpecin-Fenix @ 07:30
101 Oliver Maxwell Saint Piran @ 07:30
102 Kyle Murphy Rally Cycling @ 07:30
103 Juri Hollmann Movistar Team @ 07:44
104 Ben Healy Trinity Racing @ 07:44
105 Dan Erik Hansen Global 6 Cycling @ 09:54
106 Tim Edvard Pettersen Global 6 Cycling @ 10:26
DNF Bram Welten Arkéa-Samsic

KOM
1 Jacob Scott Canyon DHB Sungod 9
2 Nicholas Dlamini Team Qhubeka NextHash 8
3 Max Walker Trinity Racing 8
4 Oliver Stockwell Great Britain 4
5 Joey Rosskopf Rally Cycling

SPRINTS
1 Jacob Scott Canyon DHB Sungod 6
2 Max Walker Trinity Racing 4
3 Joey Rosskopf Rally Cycling 1
4 Oliver Stockwell Great Britain