Fairly rolling stage, with three short climbs categorised all as cat 2's. You will have to excuse the generous mountain categorisation in this race - this is Brittany after all!
Three sprint primers including one just 13km from the end, late hot spots are known to sometimes scramble the final mad dash. It’s not pan flat even at the end so could be a tricky one to control for this small field.
Just 63 riders at the start line and really the first stage is probably just about acclimatisation. It's cold but sunny and calm so relatively nice conditions.
The pack stay calm in the early going with no attacks before the first mountain sprint. Coming into it is Tanguy and Millar for Halfords leading us in with a couple of Gazelles and Privatbankers behind.
...and to no fanfare at all veteran Millar (10 KoM points) leads them over with Venter (8 KoM points)and Goddaert (6 KoM points) taking 2nd and 3rd for Gazelle. Tanguy (4 KoM points) for Halfords in 4th with Sosnitskiy (2 KoM points) for Privatbank in 5th.
Looks like everyone is trying to keep their powder dry for the days to come. So this stalemate continues in between the first and second mountain primers. The five names from before are still at the head of things will they battle for honours this time round?
The answer is no. Though the positions are scrambled slightly, with Tanguy grabbing first (14 KoM points in total) over Goddaert (also 14 KoM points), then the continued provisional leader Millar (16 KoM points in total. Venter (12 KoM points in total) and Sosnitskiy (4 KoM points in total) sweep ip the minor places.
Looking like he has no interest at all in the KoM jersey though Millar drops back following this perhaps to get some team drinks, likewise Venter and Sosnitskiy. However all three are back up front just in time for the false battle for positions.
Tanguy (24 KoM points) takes it, simply rolling across in first. Goddaert (22 KoM points) is second with Venter (18 KoM points) third and Millar (20 KoM points) 4th. Fonte (2 KoM points) of Privatbank takes fifth to give at least some variety.
There is a sprint just 12 Kms after this so surely that will with some incentive for attack or at least some sprinters will come to the fore.
No trains develop due to the rolling twisty terrain, Jorgenson (Risa), Nelson (Halfords) push themselves towards the front. Meanwhile Lasca (Kappa) and Dekkers (Allianz) come late to the party probably battling for third.
Jorgenson just about takes it from Nelson with Lasca third.
Perhaps the bonuses just come too thick and fast as again nothing really happens between sprint 1 and sprint 2. Jorgenson gets the jump on Nelson again.
This time Dekkers takes third with Lasca nowhere to be seen with Gavazzi competing but failing to get any time bonus or sprint points.
We still have 75km to go at this point, surely someone will take a gamble between now and the next sprint at 13km to go?
Unfortunately the answer is no, still with 25km to go its still proving to be a relaxed ride in the country for the pack.
It leaves us to speculate on the favourites for the final sprint. We have to bear in mind how late this last spring primer is, but Jorgenson so far has outwitted Nelson. Though Halfords seem keen to be near the front all the time. Dekkers, Lasca and Gavazzi have shown willing but perhaps those sprinters saving themselves to the end may have an advantage. Some of these sprinters going for these primes may have lost a bit of sprint endurance.
ANC Halfords are really well organised coming into the final sprint bonus. Jorgenson is some way back with only really Dekkers close to Nelson.
Inexplicably Nelson allows Dekkers to cruise past him, with Jorgenson able to find his wheel.
It should be noted that this is a dress rehearsal for the final sprint, like every stage in this race we finish with circuits.
If this is a dress rehearsal for the final then Halfords need a rethink? In fact Nelson looks seriously short of speed with Jorgenson almost pips Dekkers on the line with Nelson third. Jorgenson the provisionally leads with 16 points and 16 seconds time bonus to Nelson's 10 and Dekkers 8 (Lasca is on 2).
The sprinters get reeled back in as we go into the final 10 kilometres. Halfords are looking to reorganise as Tanguy is lone leading out Nelson.
Nelson has Jorgenson, Dekkers, Lasca, Moren and Nardin on his wheel. Ekspla are looking to form something for Gavazzi.
It's chaotic really though as we move into the last 4km Risa organise something with Dyrnes and Lander leading out Enger.
Nelson is not close to the leading Halfords trio (Pate, Thwaites and Clancy). He is stuck at the back in a massive sprinter traffic jam led by Gavazzi, Cardoso, Dekkers, Jorgenson, Crespo, Lasca, and Freidman.
Risa's tactics suddenly become clear.
Jorgenson smoothly moves up to Enger's wheel.
Friedman follows with teammate Gavazzi, leading Cardoso, Dekkers, Lasca and a third Ekspla man Porsev.
But wait Risa Ergon look like they are trying something else.
Enger is simply sprint away alone as he sees the kite indicating one klick to go. Jorgenson is sitting in the middle ahead of Dekkers as now Cardoso, Gavazzi and Crespo start to sprint.
Nelson? - here he is!
Lander drops back blocking Dekkers and adding another obstacle for Nelson.
800m left.
Cardoso and Crespo are catching Enger, with riders like Jorgenson and Gavazzi going backwards (lack of sprint energy seemingly). Lasca far left is moving through as is Lequatre and Moren.
Cardoso takes the lead into the final 500 metres.
It's ever so slightly uphill with Lasca coming on the inside rail. Crespo looks done so now Friedman next to Lasca looks a danger for the podium.
The guys on the outside fade away as Lasca, Friedman and Porsev come through.
Lasca takes it, with Friedman second, Cardoso third and Porsev 4th. Crespo, Lequatre, Nardin and Furdi take the minor points places. Jorgenson and Nelson were nowhere!
Kappa's Lasca the will lead going into day 2.
Full stage result
The big sprinters seem to waste energy on the primes, Nelson was poorly positioned whilst Dekkers and Jorgenson didn't seem to have the legs. That said Lasca picked up an early bonus and still won... just. A close unpredictable finish will make these opening flat stages fascinating viewing at the finish.
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
4h11'36
2
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
s.t.
4
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
6
Geoffroy Lequatre
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
7
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
s.t.
8
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
s.t.
9
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
10
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
11
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
12
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
13
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
14
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
15
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
16
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
17
Scott Thwaites
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
18
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
19
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
20
Ed Clancy
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
21
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
22
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Kristian Dyrnes
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
s.t.
25
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
26
Daniel Hoelgaard
Team Privatbank
s.t.
27
Klaas Sys
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
28
Jonas Vangenechten
Team Gazelle
s.t.
29
Brice Feillu
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
30
Christer Rake
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
31
Davide Appollonio
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
32
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
s.t.
33
Alex Meenhorst
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
34
Roy Sentjens
Team Gazelle
s.t.
35
Arturs Ansons
Team Privatbank
s.t.
36
Michael Olsson
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
37
Alexander Gingsjo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
38
Nikolas Maes
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
39
Andrei Krasilnikau
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
40
Yannick Talabardon
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
41
David Chokheli
Team Privatbank
s.t.
42
Guytan Lilholt
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
43
Alberto Rodriguez Oliver
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
44
Danny Pate
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
45
Ludovic Bret
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
46
Anthony Delaplace
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
47
Vojtech Hacecký
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
48
Christian Ranneries
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
49
Johan Broberg
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
50
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
51
Nicolae Tanovitchii
Team Privatbank
s.t.
52
Russell Hampton
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
53
Adel Barbari
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
54
Davide Villella
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
55
Soufiane Haddi
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
56
Oscar Freire
Control Team
s.t.
57
Yves Lampaert
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
58
Kristof Goddaert
Team Gazelle
s.t.
59
Giuseppe Fonzi
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
60
Jaco Venter
Team Gazelle
s.t.
61
Maarten Tjallingii
Control Team
s.t.
62
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
s.t.
63
David Millar
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
64
Eric Pedrosa
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
65
Artis Pujats
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
66
Leif Hoste
Control Team
+ 1'22
67
Björn Leukemans
Control Team
+ 2'36
68
Tadej Valjavec
Control Team
+ 3'08
GC
Jorgenson just needed a top three at the finish, but will need to hold something back in the future as he was badly outpaced.
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
4h11'14
2
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
+ 6
3
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 10
4
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
+ 12
5
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
+ 14
6
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
+ 22
8
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
9
Geoffroy Lequatre
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
10
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
s.t.
11
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
s.t.
12
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
13
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
14
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
s.t.
15
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
16
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
17
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
18
Manuele Mori
Kappa-ENI
s.t.
19
Scott Thwaites
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
20
Ed Clancy
ANC-Halfords
s.t.
21
Florian Scheit
Vattenfall Cycling
s.t.
22
Evaldas Siskevicius
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
s.t.
23
Kristian Dyrnes
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
s.t.
24
Antoine Duchesne
Team Gazelle
s.t.
25
Xavier Florencio
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
s.t.
Points
The prime battles will be irrelavent if those prime battlers do not finish well. Jorgenson and Nelson missed out in the choatic finale, meaning Lasca takes a nice early lead.
Rank
Name
Team
Points
1
Francisco Lasca
Kappa-ENI
27
2
Mike Friedman
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
20
3
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
16
4
Filipe Cardoso
Team Privatbank
16
5
Alexander Porsev
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
14
6
Marcos Crespo
Vattenfall Cycling
12
7
Hans Dekkers
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
11
8
Ricki Nelson
ANC-Halfords
10
9
Geoffroy Lequatre
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
10
10
Thiago Duarte Nardin
Team Gazelle
9
11
Blaz Furdi
Team Gazelle
8
12
Patrik Moren
Vattenfall Cycling
7
13
Mattia Gavazzi
Ekspla-Cision Cycling Team
6
14
Matteo Carrara
Allianz-BMW Cycling Team
5
15
Jaume Rovira
FC Barcelona - Estrella Damm
4
16
Sondre Holst Enger
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
2
17
Sebastian Lander
Risa - Ergon Cycling Team
1
KoM
A pretty piss poor effort in the 'mountains', no-one seemed that interested and allowed ANC to roll over the primes. Even they messed around with Millar and Tanguy swapping positions.
Rank
Name
Team
Mountain
1
Richard Tanguy
ANC-Halfords
24
2
Jaco Venter
Team Gazelle
20
3
Kristof Goddaert
Team Gazelle
20
4
David Millar
ANC-Halfords
20
5
Anatoliy Sosnitskiy
Team Privatbank
4
6
Cesar Andre Fonte
Team Privatbank
2
Youth
With race favourite Furdi classed as a youth these standings are going to be linked with GC. Nardin, Lilholt, Lasca, Nelson and Siskevicius could well feature as the race moves on.
