Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

September 08, 2017

Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 6 – Newmarket – Aldeburgh : 187 km

The 2017 Tour of Britain is a eight-stage men’s professional road cycling race. It is the fourteenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 77th British tour in total. The race starts on 3 September in Edinburgh and finishes on 10 September in Cardiff. The race is part of the 2017 UCI Europe Tour.

Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) claimed his third victory of the Tour of Britain after a long sprint in Aldeburgh on stage 6. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) was a distant second while Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNL-Jumbo) finished third.

The Australian took advantage of another technical finish – this time a sharp downhill turn 500 metres from the finish, which was complicated further by the wet roads.

While Zdenek Štybar (Quick-Step Floors) got his line wrong at the head of the peloton, holding out a foot in order to stay upright, Ewan took a perfect line behind teammate Luka Mezgec and emerged on the wheel of Gaviria’s lead-out man, Maximiliano Richeze.

Already, the decisive gap had opened up, and as Richeze took the time to turn back in search of his sprinter, Ewan burst past in his distinctive aero tuck to take the win by a bike length.

“We got information over the radio during the race that the final corner was tight and off-camber as well,” Ewan said after the stage. “Obviously we knew it was going to be wet as well so we definitely wanted to be in good position there.

“I was pretty much in perfect position, exactly where I wanted to be, and then one of the Quick-Step guys took a really bad line into the corner and he had unclipped and kind of pushed Luka, my lead-out man, into the barriers a bit. So I lost him through the corner and then I came through the corner on the inside and I decided I’d just go from there. It was a little bit of a longer sprint than I’d hoped for but luckily it paid off.”

Ewan was positive about adding to his stage win tally too, targeting the final stage in Cardiff as the location for victory number four.

“I think tomorrow is going to be a bit too hard. There’s that climb with under 10km to go and I think the teams that aren’t here with a sprinter would really pinpoint that stage,” he said. “But then definitely the last stage in Cardiff will be a sprint and I’ll go full gas again for that.”

The main GC positions, as well as the leadership of the minor classifications, remain unchanged after the stage.

How it unfolded

After a sojourn in Clacton for yesterday’s time trial, it was back to normal and yet another flat stage likely to end with a mass sprint. A wet start meant a fast one for the peloton as the riders raced to escape the torrential downpour that emptied over Newmarket immediately after the start.

During the early kilometres, riders clipped off the front of the peloton in dribs and drabs but to no avail until a group of seven earned a gap after 12km.

Enrico Barbin (Bardiani-CSF), James Shaw (Lotto-Soudal), Harry Tanfield (Bike Channel-Canyon), Connor Swift (Madison-Genesis), Hayden McCormick (One Pro Cycling), Regan Gough (AnPost-Chain Reaction) and Jacob Hennessey (Great Britain) were the men who get to know each other out in front during the day’s stage.

Their gap quickly jumped out to the two-minute mark, where it would remain for the majority of the day, give or take 30 seconds. This was largely thanks to the work of LottoNL-Jumbo, who were protecting race leader Lars Boom, and Orica-Scott, riding for double stage winner Caleb Ewan. However, the other usual suspects such as Dimension Data and Team Sky also spent time at the head of the peloton.

Given the composition of the breakaway, the three sprint points and single third category climb were virtually meaningless, so far as the competition for the respective jerseys go. Nevertheless, McCormick, Swift, and Hennessey shared the main spoils of the day – perhaps with a raid on the final two stages in mind.

By the time the break made it to the one and only climb of the day with 18km to ride, the peloton had only 1:20 to make up.

Shaw was the first to put in a dig at the front of the break with 8km to go. He succeeded in shedding a handful of companions, but the peloton, headed up by the familiar sight of Tao Geoghegan-Hart (Team Sky) was bearing down fast.

As one might expect, given the nature of the route, the break was eventually caught. With 3km remaining the race was back in the hands of the sprinter’s teams, but not before a short attack by Alex Dowsett (Movistar).

After a glance at the road book in the morning, the final corner looked potentially decisive. And so it proved, with the man from Orica-Scott taking advantage of the remnants of the Quick Step Floors train to take his tenth win of the season.

Results :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 4:13:06
2 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
3 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
4 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
5 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
6 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
7 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
9 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
11 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
12 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
13 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
14 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
15 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
16 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
17 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
18 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling
19 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling
20 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
21 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
22 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain
23 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
24 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
25 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
26 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
27 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
28 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
29 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
30 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
31 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
32 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
33 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
34 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
35 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
36 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
37 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
38 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
39 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 0:00:08
40 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
41 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
42 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
43 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
44 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
45 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
46 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
47 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling
48 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
49 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
50 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling
51 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
54 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
55 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
56 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
57 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
58 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
59 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
60 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
61 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain
62 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
63 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
64 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
65 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
66 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
67 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
68 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
69 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data
70 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
71 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team
72 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor 0:00:17
73 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:00:27
74 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:37
75 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
76 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:00:40
77 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal
78 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:45
79 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:00:47
80 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:00:57
81 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:01:17
82 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:01:29
83 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 0:02:34
84 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:51
85 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:03:05
86 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:03:08
87 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:03:48
88 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:04:00
89 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
90 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:05:11
91 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
92 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
93 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
94 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling
95 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis
96 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
97 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:05:13
98 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
99 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott
100 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
101 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor
102 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
103 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
104 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:06:01
105 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:07:36
106 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:09:25
107 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
108 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain
109 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain
110 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
111 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:11:05
DNF Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
DNF Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain
DNF Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis

General Classification after Stage 6 :
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 22:10:31
2 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:08
3 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky 0:00:09
4 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:10
5 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:13
6 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:14
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:19
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
9 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
10 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:27
11 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:28
12 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 0:00:31
13 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:00:39
14 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:50
15 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:51
16 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
17 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
18 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:53
19 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:54
20 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
21 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:55
22 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:56
23 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:00:57
24 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:01:04
25 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
26 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 0:01:05
27 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:10
28 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:12
29 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling 0:01:16
30 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling 0:01:19
31 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:20
32 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:01:21
33 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:01:23
34 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:01:25
35 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:28
36 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
37 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:33
38 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:01:34
39 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:37
40 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:39
41 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:01:40
42 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:41
43 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:01:48
44 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:57
45 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:58
46 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain 0:01:59
47 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:03
48 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor 0:02:04
49 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:02:15
50 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
51 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain 0:02:18
52 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor 0:02:21
53 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:02:33
54 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:02:40
55 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:41
56 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:23
57 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:03:29
58 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:54
59 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:03:58
60 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:04:14
61 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:04:15
62 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:04:27
63 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling 0:04:39
64 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:04:49
65 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:04:53
66 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:22
67 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:05:38
68 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:06:02
69 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:06:05
70 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team 0:06:34
71 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:06:35
72 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:07:39
73 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:07:41
74 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:07:53
75 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:07:55
76 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:08:05
77 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:08:08
78 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:08:35
79 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor 0:08:58
80 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:05
81 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:09:48
82 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:09:49
83 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:09:53
84 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:09:56
85 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:02
86 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:10:13
87 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis 0:10:25
88 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:10:56
89 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:11:20
90 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:11:52
91 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:13:59
92 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:14:23
93 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 0:14:40
94 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis 0:14:41
95 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:15:38
96 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:15:39
97 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling 0:15:51
98 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:16:17
99 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:16:30
100 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:18:32
101 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:18:58
102 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:19:31
103 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:19:42
104 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:19:44
105 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:20:20
106 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:20:48
107 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:21:25
108 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:22:28
109 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:28:10
110 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain 0:29:23
111 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:41:06