First stage of the tour and it made for the sprinters as the only climbs of the day are in the first part of the stage and aren't steep enough to make any big differences.
On the first climb of the day there were already a few escapes but they are divided in 3 groups on the road. Ciaran Cassidy, Sano, Thuaux and Serov are in the main group, with Thuaux being the first at the top
Right before the start of the second climb Kupfernagel and O'Loughlin are about to join the front group
And at the top of the climb we had a 6 men group in front. Cassidy won the climb to take the KoM jersey, followed by Serov and O'Loughlin
Less than one minute behind the first group, Medici and Jeannesson are coming, with the pack already at more than 3 minutes behind
After an while there Medici and Jeannesson caught the the other escapes which means that now Ultimate and Ultra Adventure have 2 riders in the first group of the race
With 8 riders working together the breakaway became a threat for the teams that are interested in a mass sprint so Wiggle, 100% ME and Starbucks started the chasing behind the escapes
Just 30 km left to ride and the escapes have less than 2 minutes advantage over the pack. It wasn't the best moment for an attack but a duo from EON Ruhrgas went away. The 2 riders are Munoz Giraldo and Bagdonas
Right after that Nokia - Nike took the lead of the pack chasing the breakaway for Castenada
After 5 kilometres the EON Ruhrgas caught the first group but the pack is very close. 5 riders (O'Loughlin, Kupfernagel, Cassidy, Serov and Jeannesson) tried their last chance in today's stage with another attack
They managed to enter the last 20 kilometres of the race with almost 40 seconds advatange over the pack but it doesn't seem to be enough
They stayed in front for less than 2 kilometres and then were caught. A mass sprint seems unavoidable now
There are 2 main trains made for the sprint, on oposite sides of the road, by Wiggle and Lego.
Rowe is leading the Wiggle train, while Radochla does the same with the Lego one as they reache the last 3 kilometres. Also Vespa and 100% ME are coming really fast from behind at the moment
Both Lego and Wiggle lost the control of the sprint there and they are losing speed at the moment as Swift takes the lead, after a great lead - out from Blythe. Bacquet is also very fast at the moment, after he stayed behind the Lego train
Bacquet wasn't able to make the effort for too long and now Swift takes a clear lead, with less than 1 kilometre to go
Abdallah, Gajek and Cooper are trying to take his wheel but Swift seems to strong for them
And Swift takes an 'easy' win in front of Abdallah and Gajek
Stage
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
3h10'35
2
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
s.t.
3
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
4
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
5
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
6
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
7
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
9
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
10
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
12
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
13
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
14
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
15
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
16
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
17
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
18
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
19
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
21
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
22
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
23
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
25
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
26
Geoffroy Lequatre
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
27
Zakkari Dempster
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
28
Giovanni Visconti
Team Starbucks
s.t.
29
Mickaël Delage
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
30
Martin Elmiger
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
31
Dan Craven
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
32
Kensyo Sawada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
33
Daniel Martin
100% ME
s.t.
34
Gianni Meersman
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
35
Charles Dionne
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
36
Thomas Murray
100% ME
s.t.
37
Muradjan Khalmuratov
AON Global
s.t.
38
Nicolas Roche
100% ME
s.t.
39
Sergiu Cioban
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
40
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
41
Kazuki Aoyanagi
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
42
Richard Cleaver
100% ME
s.t.
43
Matthew Crane
Team Starbucks
s.t.
44
Timothy Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
45
Francisco Lara Ruiz
Team Starbucks
s.t.
46
Ronald Harvey
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
47
Nicolas Brolin
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
48
Rubens Bertogliati
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
49
Richard Ochoa Quintero
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
50
Fabio Ciccarese
Team Starbucks
s.t.
51
Ruggero Marzoli
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
52
Steven Burke
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
53
Aleksandar Flügel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
54
Remco Te Brake
Team Ultimate
s.t.
55
Yoshiaki Shimada
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
56
Hubert Dupont
AON Global
s.t.
57
Tom Diggle
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Gediminas Bagdonas
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
59
Jörg Jaksche
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
60
Matías Médici
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
61
Evgeny Wacker
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
62
Sebastian Balck
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
63
George Hincapie
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
64
Michael Creed
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
65
Anthony Charteau
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
66
Esteban Mardones
AON Global
s.t.
67
Lucas Schädlich
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
68
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
69
Keir Plaice
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
70
Eduard Vorganov
AON Global
s.t.
71
Salvatore Mancuso
Team Ultimate
s.t.
72
Shaun Lewis
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
73
Kevin Barclay
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
74
Adam Petrie-Armstrong
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
75
Wilson Rincón
Team Ultimate
s.t.
76
Ciaran Kelly
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
77
Yannick Stoltz
Team Ultimate
s.t.
78
Ciaran Power
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
79
Tadej Valjavec
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
80
Gert Rajala
Team Ultimate
s.t.
81
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
82
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
s.t.
83
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
s.t.
84
Kristian House
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
85
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
s.t.
86
Jonas Ljungblad
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
87
Ananias Ananias
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
88
Gabriele Bosisio
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
89
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
90
Peter Williams
THE CONTROL TEAM
s.t.
91
Julian David Muñoz Giraldo
EON Ruhrgas
+ 2'13
92
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
s.t.
93
Danilo Kupfernagel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
94
Matt Booth
100% ME
s.t.
95
Arnold Jeannesson
Team Ultimate
+ 3'09
Overall
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
3h10'15
2
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 8
3
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
+ 12
4
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
+ 20
5
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
6
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
s.t.
7
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
s.t.
9
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
10
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Alessandro Petacchi
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
12
Dimitri De Fauw
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
13
Krzysztof Szczawinski
AON Global
s.t.
14
Mattias Westling
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
15
Erik Mohs
IrnBru - RBS
s.t.
16
Iljo Keisse
EON Ruhrgas
s.t.
17
Jaime Alberto Castañeda
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
18
John Nilsson
Team IKEA - Bianchi
s.t.
19
Luke Rowe
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
20
Mark Scanlon
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
21
Stefan Radochla
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
s.t.
22
Adam Blythe
100% ME
s.t.
23
Ben Hermans
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Mark Renshaw
Team Starbucks
s.t.
25
Damion Drapac
Nokia-Nike
s.t.
Points
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
35
2
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
30
3
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
26
4
Christopher Sutton
IrnBru - RBS
24
5
Mattia Gavazzi
Vespa-Caffrey's
22
6
Fabien Bacquet
Team Starbucks
20
7
Joseph Cooper
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
19
8
Sébastien Minard
Team Starbucks
18
9
Grischa Janorschke
Team LEGO - Capri-Sonne
17
10
Nikolai Trusov
Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
16
Mountain
1
Ciaran Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
17
2
Phillip Thuaux
Team Ultimate
10
3
Aleksandr Serov
AON Global
10
4
Junya Sano
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
8
5
David O'Loughlin
Ernst and Young / Apple Computer and NBC News
6
6
Danilo Kupfernagel
Team IKEA - Bianchi
1
Young
1
Ben Swift
100% ME
3h10'15
2
Cherif Abdallah
AON Global
+ 8
3
Artur Gajek
Team Ultra Adventure Pro Cycling - Sponsored by Hello Kitty
