The race opener is a flat stage, although there is a little kick towards the end which may catch out some of the sprinters.



5 men in the break:
Aregger
Chtioui
Laengen
Burke
Heider



Heider won the first KoM infront of Laengen, and the pair then dueled for 2nd place on Climb 2 to decide who would wear the KoM jersey after the opening day.



Heider just edged it, so the home rider will lead the classification after today on 10 points. Laengen has 6, as does Aregger.

As well as winning the 2nd climb, Aregger also took out all three intermediate sprints on the route.



That's all for the breakaway though, they were caught with 18km to go.

Into the final 10km, and a massive crash in the peloton!



Over 50 riders involved, but most of the team leaders seem to have missed it. But not all - Jaroslav Popovych is amongst the fallers. So unlucky in his only PT stage race of the year.

The sprint trains come to the fore at the 5km to go mark, with one leadout man for each of the 3 top sprinters in the race. Degenkolb has Kluge, Van Heerden has Jelloul, and Swift has Caethoven. The likes of Mohs and Ciolek are a long way back, and already out of it.



Kluge struggles to match the other two leadouts though as the sprint nears. Vesuvio's Merino Criado makes a late dash to the front of his sprint train but cannot make it.

Not many riders are looking to be involved in the sprint today, and some ominous climbing names have got themselves in the mix. PCT star Hoffman has Van Stayen's wheel, with a finish that could suit him and help to salvage his team's day. But then on Swift's wheel it is Bakelandts, Reynes and Phinney!



Jelloul wins the leadout battle to drop Van Stayen off in a great position.



The Belgian goes for it with more than a kilometre to go and Hoffman cannot keep up. Swift and Degenkolb are chasing after him but we can really see the extent of the uphill finish now.



The slope is only 1.3% but it feels like a lot more. Swift takes the lead, but look who is coming up on the far side of the road.



Bakelandts and Phinney storm through to battle for victory.

And the winner is...



Taylor Phinney!

Not so good for the sprinters then with Swift ending 3rd, Van Stayen 7th and Degenkolb 8th. The German duo of Schumacher and Burghardt had come through for 4th and 6th, surrounding Reynes.

Koren and Van den Broeck complete the Top 10, while Popovych lost as massive 4'45.

Two riders had to abandon from the crash: Stef Clement and Adrian Malori. A blow for the TTT squads of both teams.

1	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	4h51'06
2	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
3	Ben Swift	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
4	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	s.t.
5	Vicente Reynès	Santander	s.t.
6	Marcus Burghardt	Team Bacardi	s.t.
7	Juan Van Heerden	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
8	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
9	Kristjan Koren	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
10	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
11	Ricardo Van der Velde	Team Bacardi	s.t.
12	Domenik Klemme	Team B&O	s.t.
13	Adil Jelloul	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
14	Nolan Hoffman	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
15	Roger Kluge	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
16	Pedro Merino Criado	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
17	Dan Craven	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
18	Steven Caethoven	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
19	Walter Pedraza	Koenigsegg	s.t.
20	Vitaliy Popkov	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
21	Matthieu Ladagnous	Pendleton's	s.t.
22	Daniel Martin	Pendleton's	s.t.
23	David De la Fuente	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
24	Nico Keinath	Team B&O	s.t.
25	Tanel Kangert	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
26	Robert Gesink	Project 1t4i	s.t.
27	Leigh Howard	Milka - AVG	s.t.
28	Jaroslav Kulhavy	Milka - AVG	s.t.
29	Martin Hacecký	Team B&O	s.t.
30	Jakub Danacik	Koenigsegg	s.t.
31	Paolo Scarponi	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
32	Dominique Nerz	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
33	Manuel Lloret	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
34	Leopold König	Milka - AVG	s.t.
35	Dmitri Grabovski	Team Bacardi	s.t.
36	Pello Bilbao	Team Bacardi	s.t.
37	Tim Dees	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
38	Vladimir Gusev	Pendleton's	s.t.
39	Kevin Van Impe	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
40	Konstantin Siutsou	Pendleton's	s.t.
41	Janez Brajkovic	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
42	Markus Fothen	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
43	Jean-Patrick Nazon	Control Team	s.t.
44	Andrew Talansky	Wikipedia	s.t.
45	Jelle Vanendert	Project 1t4i	s.t.
46	Rigoberto Úran	Milka - AVG	s.t.
47	Wout Poels	Project 1t4i	s.t.
48	Tyler Brandt	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
49	Sten Stenersen	Team B&O	s.t.
50	Benoît Vaugrenard	Project 1t4i	s.t.
51	Jelle Wallays	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
52	Ethan Weiss	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
53	Koen De Kort	Project 1t4i	s.t.
54	Timothy Vangheel	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
55	Erik Mohs	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
56	Andreas Stauff	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
57	Hubert Schwab	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
58	Fabio Felline	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
59	David Livramento	Aker - MOT	s.t.
60	Robert Hunter	Control Team	s.t.
61	Sonny Colbrelli	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
62	Michael Faerk Christensen	Team B&O	s.t.
63	Gerald Ciolek	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
64	Brent Bookwalter	Wikipedia	s.t.
65	Tom Stubbe	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
66	Olivier Le Gac	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
67	Adam Blythe	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
68	Thomas De Gendt	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
69	William Bonnet	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
70	Kobe Vanoverschelde	Aker - MOT	s.t.
71	André Steensen	Team B&O	s.t.
72	Serge Pauwels	Koenigsegg	s.t.
73	Bauke Mollema	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
74	Wilco Kelderman	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
75	Jacob Fiedler	Koenigsegg	s.t.
76	Brian Vandborg	Team B&O	s.t.
77	Eric Berthou	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
78	Kristof Vandewalle	Project 1t4i	s.t.
79	Luke Durbridge	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
80	Frantisek Rabon	Milka - AVG	s.t.
81	Thomas Peterson	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
82	Laurent Pichon	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
83	Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin	Santander	s.t.
84	Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio	Control Team	s.t.
85	Dion Beukeboom	Wikipedia	s.t.
86	Matthieu Sprick	Wikipedia	s.t.
87	Lorents Ola Aasvold	Aker - MOT	s.t.
88	Morten Reckweg	Team B&O	s.t.
89	Sebastien Reichenbach	UBS - BMC	s.t.
90	Ronan Van Zandbeek	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
91	Marco Brus	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
92	Jan Ghyselinck	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
93	Didac Ortega	Santander	s.t.
94	Stijn Joseph	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
95	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	s.t.
96	Yoann Offredo	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
97	Ole Haavardsholm	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
98	Evert Verbist	Milka - AVG	s.t.
99	Rafaâ Chtioui	UBS - BMC	s.t.
100	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
101	Ivan Mauricio Casas	Pendleton's	+ 3'29
102	Jackson Rodríguez	Pearl Adidas	+ 3'56
103	Johan Le Bon	UBS - BMC	s.t.
104	Carlos Oyarzun	Pendleton's	s.t.
105	Joseph Biziyaremye	Aker - MOT	s.t.
106	Matej Vysna	Milka - AVG	s.t.
107	Oleksandr Sheydyk	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 4'45
108	Ryder Hesjedal	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
109	Haijun Ma	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
110	Joost Posthuma	Project 1t4i	s.t.
111	Jaroslav Popovych	Metinvest-Emirates	s.t.
112	Marcel Barth	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
113	Marcel Aregger	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
114	Westley Gough	Milka - AVG	s.t.
115	Elia Viviani	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
116	Pim Ligthart	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
117	Lucas Schädlich	Team Bacardi	s.t.
118	Michele Viola	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
119	Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
120	Daniel Freitas	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
121	Cedric Lebris	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
122	Tim Kennaugh	Pendleton's	s.t.
123	Tom Dumoulin	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
124	Michael Schär	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
125	Bob Jungels	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
126	Evan Huffman	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
127	Alfredo Balloni	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
128	Tom Thill	Team Bacardi	s.t.
129	Javier Moreno	Santander	s.t.
130	Silvan Dillier	UBS - BMC	s.t.
131	Luigi Sestili	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
132	Welle Jallays	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
133	Thomas Frei	UBS - BMC	s.t.
134	Alberigo Passalacqua	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
135	Jason Donald	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
136	Kiril Yatsevich	Team Bacardi	s.t.
137	Florian Stalder	UBS - BMC	s.t.
138	Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg	Wikipedia	s.t.
139	Erick Rowsell	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
140	Sondre Sørtveit	Aker - MOT	s.t.
141	Sébastien Rosseler	Project 1t4i	s.t.
142	Mattia Pozzo	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
143	Steven Burke	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
144	Dimitri Champion	UBS - BMC	s.t.
145	Aitor Hernández Gutierrez	Santander	s.t.
146	Piotr Mazur	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
147	Blake Caldwell	Wikipedia	s.t.
148	Piter Campero	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
149	Maxim Belkov	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
150	Philipp Walsleben	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
151	Javier Aramendía	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
152	Ole Hirschlein	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
153	Viktor Renäng	Koenigsegg	s.t.
154	Stelly Robert	Wikipedia	s.t.
155	Thomas Koep	Vesuvio - Accumalux	s.t.
156	Jurgen Van Goolen	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
157	Russell Downing	Control Team	s.t.
158	Lars Petter Nordhaug	Aker - MOT	s.t.
159	Jure Zrimsek	Aker - MOT	+ 7'15
160	Bradley Wiggins	Pendleton's	s.t.
161	Sebastian Lang	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 8'01
162	Tyler Butterfield	Team Bacardi	+ 9'26
163	Jon Ander Insausti	Santander	s.t.
164	Alexander Wetterhall	Koenigsegg	s.t.
165	Freddy Johansson	Koenigsegg	s.t.
166	Mario Gonzalez Salas	Santander	s.t.
167	Aberlardo Ablenado	Santander	s.t.
168	Cameron Meyer	Koenigsegg	s.t.
169	Nevio Tirloni	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
170	Sergiy Lagkuti	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 14'56
DNF	Stef Clement	Pokerstars.com
DNF	Adrian Malori	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team

GC

1	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	4h50'46
2	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	+ 8
3	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	+ 10
4	Ben Swift	Vesuvio - Accumalux	+ 12
5	Rafaâ Chtioui	UBS - BMC	+ 14
6	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	+ 18
7	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	+ 20
8	Vicente Reynès	Santander	s.t.
9	Marcus Burghardt	Team Bacardi	s.t.
10	Juan Van Heerden	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
11	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
12	Kristjan Koren	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
13	Jurgen Van den Broeck	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
14	Ricardo Van der Velde	Team Bacardi	s.t.
15	Domenik Klemme	Team B&O	s.t.

Points

1	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	25
2	Jan Bakelants	Pearl Adidas	20
3	Marcel Aregger	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	18
4	Ben Swift	Vesuvio - Accumalux	16
5	Stefan Schumacher	UBS - BMC	14
6	Vicente Reynès	Santander	12
7	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	10
8	Marcus Burghardt	Team Bacardi	10
9	Juan Van Heerden	Simply Red Bull	9
10	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	8

KoM

1	Johannes Heider	Team Puma - SAP	10
2	Marcel Aregger	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	6
3	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	6
4	Rafaâ Chtioui	UBS - BMC	2

U25

1	Taylor Phinney	Wikipedia	4h50'46 (1)
2	Vegard Stake Laengen	Aker - MOT	+ 10 (2)
3	John Degenkolb	Pokerstars.com	+ 20 (3)
4	Leigh Howard	Milka - AVG	+ 20 (4)
5	Martin Hacecký	Team B&O	+ 20 (5)
6	Jakub Danacik	Koenigsegg	+ 20 (6)
7	Paolo Scarponi	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	+ 20 (7)
8	Dominique Nerz	Team Puma - SAP	+ 20 (8)
9	Pello Bilbao	Team Bacardi	+ 20 (9)
10	Tim Dees	Festina-Canal+	+ 20 (10)

With the TTT tomorrow, the teams classification deteremines the order (in reverse) that teams will ride:

1	Vesuvio - Accumalux	14h33'18
2	Team Bacardi	s.t.
3	Pokerstars.com	s.t.
4	Team B&O	s.t.
5	Simply Red Bull	s.t.
6	Pendleton's	s.t.
7	Milka - AVG	s.t.
8	Pearl Adidas	s.t.
9	Heineken presented by California Giant Berry Farms	s.t.
10	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
11	Wikipedia	s.t.
12	Lotto - Cervelo	s.t.
13	Project 1t4i	s.t.
14	Koenigsegg	s.t.
15	Festina-Canal+	s.t.
16	Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi	s.t.
17	Santander	s.t.
18	Control Team	s.t.
19	Wiggle Professional Cycling Team	s.t.
20	UBS - BMC	s.t.
21	Aker - MOT	s.t.
22	Metinvest-Emirates	+ 4'45