Stage Favourites:
Ciolek, , Lo Cicero, Goss, Holloway & Vanderbiest.
A sprint finish is forecast to get us underway in Denmark, but that doesn't stop three riders trying their hand in the break. The opening stage break consisted of: Bikienga, Mannion & Polanc.
Sonnery set much of the pace early on in the stage, no hope for him contesting the sprint then. Yes it looks like La Vie Claire will be all-in for former GC winner Reus. Jaguar - Eritel were the other prominent team doing much of the pace setting in the first half of the stage.
A good day for Bikienga.
Bikienga would finish 1 st at both intermediate sprints on the stage, picking up 12 seconds of bonifications, finishing ahead of Mannion and Polanc exactly at each sprint point.
20 KM to go: The break @ 1'00.
With the final approaching the sprint teams of Meiji - Cannondale, RBC Pro Cycling and Team Puma - SAP are doing the chasing.
The peloton, ever picking up speed, would catch the break with 11 KM to go.
450 meters to go.
| Itami | | | Nateghi | | Torckler | Lo Cicero | | Docker | Bennett | Minard | Vanderbiest | | Giaux | Kupfernagel | | Ciolek | | Vaitkus | Maksimov | | | Holloway |
250 meters to go.
RBC Pro Cycling's sprint train looks to be coming apart as Nateghi and Giaux bring their sprinters in to the ideal positions.
Vaitkus and Maksimov can't be discounted, both look up for it today.
< 100 meters to go.
Vanderbiest marginally leads, but the likes of Ciolek and Lo Cicero are yet to reach top speed, having left their sprints late today.
Ciolek wins stage 1! The German wins the drag race of these elite sprinters by half a bike length from Lo Cicero, who just edged out Maksimov for second.
Vaitkus must have been on a super day to finish 4 th in this company whilst Holloway finished very quickly to round out the top 5, passing Vanderbiest, who really went backwards in the closing meters.
Goss is the one who missed out the most today, capable of winning this stage, but not really contesting the sprint. Perhaps Oz Cycling Project are only concerned with the GC?
Bikienga survives to maintain contact with the bunch and finishes the day in 3 rd place in GC. Quite a few riders lost contact towards the end, Olman being the most notable.
Results:
1 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | 3h45'46 | 2 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 3 | Roman Maksimov | Project: Africa | s.t. | 4 | Tomas Vaitkus | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 5 | Dan Holloway | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 6 | Romain Vanderbiest | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 7 | André Greipel | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 8 | Mitch Docker | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 9 | Danilo Kupfernagel | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 10 | Hossein Nateghi | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 11 | Raúl Granjel Cabrera | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 12 | Jérome Giaux | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 13 | Daniel Thorsen | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 14 | Sam Bennett | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 15 | Anthony Lavoine | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 16 | Mathieu Drujon | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 17 | Kenji Itami | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 18 | Maximiliano Richeze | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 19 | Michael Torckler | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 20 | Sebastian Lander | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 21 | Sébastien Turgot | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 22 | Matthew Goss | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 23 | Andrew Tennant | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 24 | Pim Ligthart | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 25 | Yauheni Hutarovich | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 26 | Luka Mezgec | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 27 | Abdelbasset Hannachi | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 28 | Sébastien Minard | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 29 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 30 | Jonas Ahlstrand | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 31 | Haijun Ma | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 32 | Ho-Ting Kwok | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 33 | William Ford | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 34 | Jakub Danacik | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 35 | Marcel Barth | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 36 | Michael Rogers | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 37 | Christian Meier | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 38 | Kai Reus | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 39 | Barry Markus | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 40 | Enrico Gasparotto | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 41 | Jocelyn Bar | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 42 | Michel Kreder | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 43 | Ludovic Bret | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 44 | Volodymyr Dzhus | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 45 | Dmitriy Gruzdev | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 46 | Ronan Van Zandbeek | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 47 | Nick Clesen | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 48 | Marlen Zmorka | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 49 | Manuele Boaro | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 50 | Rafael Andriato | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 51 | Lieuwe Westra | Gazelle | s.t. | 52 | Freddy Johansson | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 53 | Fabio Silvestre | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 54 | Roberto Traficante | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 55 | Thiago Duarte Nardin | Gazelle | s.t. | 56 | Tomohiro Hayakawa | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 57 | Roberto Ferrari | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 58 | Sergiy Lagkuti | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 59 | Jóni Brandão | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 60 | Jack Anderson | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 61 | Jay Thomson | Project: Africa | s.t. | 62 | Michel Koch | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 63 | Lotto Petrus | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 64 | Christopher De Souza | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 65 | Gustav Larsson | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 66 | Allan Davis | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 67 | Andreas Hofer | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 68 | Sung Baek Park | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 69 | Ricki Nelson | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 70 | Roy Goldstein | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 71 | Daniil Fominykh | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 72 | Dane Steve Nugara | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 73 | Ahmad Haidar Anuawar | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 74 | Tim Declerq | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 75 | Anuar Manan | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 76 | Michael Ford | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 77 | Ronan Racault | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 78 | Basilio Ramos Ticona | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 79 | Fumiyuki Beppu | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 80 | Ignas Konovalovas | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 81 | Kosuke Makino | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 82 | Kasper Klostergaard | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 83 | Biao Liu | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 84 | Wes Sulzberger | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 85 | Nikolay Mihaylov | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 86 | Giorgio Brambilla | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 87 | Alois Kankovský | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 88 | Kenny Van Hummel | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 89 | Piotr Mazur | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 90 | Polychronis Tzortzakis | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 91 | Taylor Tolleson | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 92 | Thomas Vedel Kvist | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 93 | Nick Nuyens | Gazelle | s.t. | 94 | Willie Smit | Project: Africa | s.t. | 95 | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 96 | Alexis Gougeard | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 97 | Patrick Lane | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 98 | Przemyslaw Niemiec | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 99 | Yamato Shirota | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 100 | Alexander Wetterhall | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 101 | Gavin Mannion | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 102 | Anthony José Brea | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 103 | Salfo Bikienga | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 104 | Fabien Taillefour | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 105 | Francesco Chicchi | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | + 3'11 | 106 | Alexandr Nepomnyachsniy | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 107 | Hans Dekkers | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 108 | Maciej Ulanowski | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 109 | Simon Yates | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 110 | Boy Van Poppel | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 111 | Eros Capecchi | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 112 | Ismail Ayoune | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 113 | Oscar Gatto | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 114 | Sascha Damrow | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 115 | Kim Marius Nielsen | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 116 | Matteo Trentin | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 117 | Blaise Sonnery | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 118 | Cherif Abdallah | Project: Africa | s.t. | 119 | Davide Viganò | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 120 | Miles Olman | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 121 | Davide Appollonio | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 122 | Oleksandr Polivoda | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 123 | Issiaka Cisse | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 124 | Dylan Groenewegen | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 125 | Mauro Facci | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 126 | Elias Afewerki | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 127 | Hervé Raoul Mba | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 128 | Samwel Ekiru | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 129 | Harry Kraft | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 130 | Giuseppe Fonzi | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 131 | Stanimir Cholakov | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 132 | Anthony Giacoppo | Oz Cycling Project | s.t. | 133 | Julien Simon | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 134 | Davide Formolo | Gazelle | s.t. | 135 | Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 136 | Jani Tewelde | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 137 | Ethan Weiss | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 138 | Jan Hirt | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 139 | Laxmen Wijerathna | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 140 | Sebastian Anaya | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 141 | Truls Engen Korsaeth | Swedbank - PEAB | s.t. | 142 | Roman Senyenov | Gazelle | s.t. | 143 | Metkel Kiflay | Project: Africa | s.t. | 144 | Xavier Quevedo | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 145 | Valentin Stoenchev | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 146 | Diego Milan | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 147 | Gyung Gu Jang | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 148 | Patrick Konrad | Gazelle | s.t. | 149 | Guillaume Blot | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 150 | Behnam Khalilikhosroshani | Compal-Merida | s.t. | 151 | Yukihiro Doi | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 152 | Evan Huffman | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 153 | Caleb Ewan | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 154 | Jason Donald | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 155 | Jaco Venter | Gazelle | s.t. | 156 | Stefan Petrovski | Metinvest-Emirates | s.t. | 157 | Andrei Kunitski | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 158 | Hillary Kiprotich | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 159 | Daniel Paulus | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 160 | Luca Sterbini | Kazzinc Procycling | s.t. | 161 | Pierre Paolo Penasa | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 162 | Jan Tratnik | Gazelle | s.t. | 163 | Songezo Jim | Project: Africa | s.t. | 164 | Pavel Kochetkov | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 165 | Fernando Briceno | Repsol-Cativen | s.t. | 166 | Daniel Ricardo Diaz | La Vie Claire | s.t. | 167 | Max Losch | Boeing-Bulgaria Bicycling | s.t. | 168 | Mujtaba Hussein | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 169 | Jan Polanc | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 170 | Eliot Lietaer | Kappa-ENI | s.t. | 171 | Volodymyr Gomenyuk | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | + 4'41 | 172 | Ruslan Sambris | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 173 | Ian Boswell | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 174 | Eduardo Sepulveda | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 175 | Heiko Redecker | Project: Africa | s.t. | 176 | Igor Abakoumov | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 177 | Danny Van Poppel | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 178 | Emile Bintunimana | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 179 | Christoff Van Heerden | Project: Africa | + 5'20 | 180 | Matej Mohoric | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 181 | Xavier Nieves | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 182 | Eugert Zhupa | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 183 | Yoeri Havik | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 184 | Yauheni Shamsonau | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 185 | Pedro Miguel Paulinho | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 186 | Andrei Sakalou | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 187 | Geert Van der Sanden | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 188 | Tomasz Zywer | Control Team | s.t. | 189 | Yves Lampaert | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. | 190 | Yeison Delgado | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | + 6'33 | 191 | Rui Pedro Vinhas | Karcher-Adira Racing | + 7'09 | 192 | Pedro Pablo Pereyra | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 193 | Félix Emilio Besada | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 194 | Ivor Bruin | Control Team | s.t. | 195 | Dainius Kairelis | Control Team | s.t. |
GC:
1 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | 3h45'26 | 2 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Meiji - Cannondale | + 8 | 3 | Salfo Bikienga | Team Kenya Airways | s.t. | 4 | Roman Maksimov | Project: Africa | + 12 | 5 | Gavin Mannion | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 6 | Tomas Vaitkus | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | + 20 | 7 | Dan Holloway | Heineken-Cal Giant | s.t. | 8 | Romain Vanderbiest | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 9 | André Greipel | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | s.t. | 10 | Mitch Docker | RBC Pro Cycling | s.t. | 11 | Danilo Kupfernagel | Karcher-Adira Racing | s.t. | 12 | Hossein Nateghi | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 13 | Raúl Granjel Cabrera | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | s.t. | 14 | Jérome Giaux | Team Puma - SAP | s.t. | 15 | Daniel Thorsen | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | s.t. | 16 | Sam Bennett | Jaguar - Eritel | s.t. | 17 | Anthony Lavoine | Team Hornbach | s.t. | 18 | Mathieu Drujon | Magna - Ryanair | s.t. | 19 | Kenji Itami | Meiji - Cannondale | s.t. | 20 | Maximiliano Richeze | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | s.t. |
Points:
1 | Gerald Ciolek | Team Puma - SAP | 25 | 2 | Ivano Lo Cicero | Meiji - Cannondale | 20 | 3 | Roman Maksimov | Project: Africa | 16 | 4 | Tomas Vaitkus | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 14 | 5 | Salfo Bikienga | Team Kenya Airways | 12 | 6 | Dan Holloway | Heineken-Cal Giant | 12 | 7 | Romain Vanderbiest | RBC Pro Cycling | 10 | 8 | André Greipel | Privatbank - Nemiroff Professional Cycling Team | 9 | 9 | Gavin Mannion | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 8 | 10 | Mitch Docker | RBC Pro Cycling | 8 | 11 | Danilo Kupfernagel | Karcher-Adira Racing | 7 | 12 | Hossein Nateghi | Meiji - Cannondale | 6 | 13 | Raúl Granjel Cabrera | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | 5 | 14 | Jan Polanc | Allianz-BMW Cycling Team | 4 | 15 | Jérome Giaux | Team Puma - SAP | 4 | 16 | Daniel Thorsen | BelarusBank Pro Cycling | 3 | 17 | Sam Bennett | Jaguar - Eritel | 2 | 18 | Anthony Lavoine | Team Hornbach | 1 |
Team:
1 | Meiji - Cannondale | 11h17'18 (1) | 2 | Team Puma - SAP | + 0 (2) | 3 | RBC Pro Cycling | + 0 (3) |
Young:
1 | Salfo Bikienga | Team Kenya Airways | 3h45'34 (1) | 2 | Gavin Mannion | Mobil - Aeropostal Ciclismo | + 4 (2) | 3 | Sam Bennett | Jaguar - Eritel | + 12 (3) | 4 | Sebastian Lander | Team Puma - SAP | + 12 (4) |
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