Stage 1a

Remy Di Gregorio
Caleb Ewan
Linus Gerdemann
Damien Howson
Philip Lavery
Damien Monier
Davide Villella
Adam Yates

You have to feel sorry for Reynes... 3 km into the stage, not even a single attack has happened yet, and he is off the back with a wheel replacement. He will comformably ride back into the peleton, but not the best start.

A group formed shortly after the 7km mark, with Fedi (FLA), Van Dijk (AJW) and Russell (TNN) going off the front of the peleton.

For a long time, it looked like the break would not get away, as Astana, Sky and Lotto set a fast pace following a further attack from Goddaert (IAM).

The quartet worked well together on the stage, and as the pace of the peleton relaxed, they began to build up a nice lead on the road.

As the short climb to the only KoM began, the gap to the break was at around 2'15, and behind attacks began to start, with Sella (AND), Duarte (COL), Kessiakoff (AST) and Westra (VCD) all going off the front.

As the summit of the climb approached, another group tried their luck up the road, as this time it was Scarponi (LAM), Bakelants (RTL) and Vanendert (LTB) to attack.

Westra was all on his own over the top of the climb, and was in full 'Time Trial' mode as he descended to the finish. Behind a large 14 man group of favourites, including Froome, Cunego and Di Gregorio had formed with a small gap on the peleton.

At the front, this was Westra's stage to lose, and comfortably takes the win in Lienz. Behind, the group of favourites finished as one, but the sprint for the minor places meant that the only time gap was to Westra.

A group of 5 riders attacked from the start of the stage, with Villella, Kennaugh (SKY), Garzelli (FAR), Barta (TNE) and Belkov (KAT) making it a very strong breakaway.

Further riders tried to join the break, but sadly Astana, BMC and OmegaPharma pulled every one of them back.

As the break began to increase further, Euser (UHC) attacked to try and bridge the gap.

The peleton seemed happy to let him go, as BMC took full control of the pace making.

In the fight for the KoM jersey, Davide did a great job to take maximum points at the top. He followed the early attacks, before comfortably leaving his breakaway companions behind at the summit.

CRASH! It is a disaster for the team. Remy hits the deck on the descent and it is not looking good...

With Davide up the road, and Adam struggling, Linus was ordered to help Di Gregorio back into the peleton. But he was already 2'44 down on the main group

Back at the front, the peleton was on the final climb to the finish, and the gap to the back was down to under a minute.

Race over for Remy! The Frenchman is unable to continue as he was having difficulty keeping up with Linus and losing time on the GC favourites with every pedal stroke.

With Remy out of the race, focus is suddenly turned to Davide. On the climb, the GC favourites bridged the gap to breakaway, with Villella looking strong.

ATTACK FROOME! The Sky man gets out the saddle with 6km remaining and for a short while only Davide is able to follow him.

2km to go, and there is no stopping Froome. He has over 1'30 to the nearest group on the road, with his GC rivals another 36" further adrift.

Villella finally cracks on the climb, as the GC men turn on the pressure. To say that he has been in the break all day, this is a fantastic effort from him.

Froome comfortably takes the win, with the Astana pair of Aru and Kangert, nearly 3 minutes later, completing the podium. Villella does himself and team proud, finishing 12th.