Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

September 03, 2018

Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 2 – Cranbrook – Barnstable : 174 km

With no Lars Boom, the 2018 OVO Energy Tour of Britain is without its defending champion. However, the Dutchman’s LottoNL-Jumbo team are bringing none other than Primož Roglic – the Slovenian star who took a solo stage win in the Pyrenees and fourth place overall at this year’s Tour de France. And it gets even better than that, with 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas and four-time Tour winner Chris Froome lining up for Team Sky at the race. Add to the mix sprinters André Greipel (Lotto Soudal), Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) and Fernando Gaviria, plus the latter’s Quick-Step Floors teammate and the winner of two stages and the polka-dot jersey as best climber at this year’s Tour de France, Julian Alaphilippe, and it quickly becomes apparent that the Tour of Britain organisers are doing nothing short of spoiling roadside – and armchair – fans at this year’s race. On the racing front, the uphill team time trial on stage 5 brings something new to the table, while the climbers are catered for with a double ascent of the same climb used for the TTT – albeit from the other side of Whinlatter Pass – the next day. With sprinting opportunities aplenty, and the big finish in London, it all adds up to suggest that this year’s eight-day race could be one of the best yet.

The GC battle at the Tour of Britain began to take shape on stage two, as an elite chase group of eight riders came in hot on the heels of breakaway survivors Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott), who took the stage win in Barnstaple, and Bardiani-CSF rider Alessandro Tonelli, the new overall leader.

Meyer was quick to dismiss any chance that he might pose an overall challenge – this stage win would be enough, he implied – and he will now work to help the Mitchelton-Scott sprinter Caleb Ewan on the remaining three flat stages.

With Tonelli likely to be at a disadvantage in the team time trial up Whinlatter Pass on Thursday, and the next group at 39 seconds, the overall winner was likely to come from one of the strong men who escaped over the two tough climbs in the final 30 kilometres through North Devon, depending on who survives on what looks set to be another tough finale into Bristol on Tuesday.

Among the eight chasers were the Quick-Step Floors duo Bob Jungels and Julian Alaphilippe, who had looked ominously strong over the short steep climb before the finish in Newport on Sunday, Team Sky’s Wout Poels and the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (LottoNL-Jumbo). Also in there were EF-Drapac’s Hugh Carthy, Patrick Bevin (BMC), Jasha Sutterlin (Movistar) and Christopher Hamilton (Sunweb), while an exhausted Scott Davies of Dimension Data finished close behind the chasing group after being dropped by Meyer and Tonelli in the final miles.

Meyer, Tonelli and Davies were among five riders who went clear over the opening climb after the start at the new town of Cranbrooke, together with Matthew Teggart (Team Wiggins) and Erick Rowsell (Madison-Genesis). The five gained six and a half minutes early on, with Teggart eventually taking over the sprints jersey, and Davies ending the stage as King of the Mountains leader.

The decisive moves were sparked by Carthy, who attacked at 32 kilometres to go leaving the resort of Ilfracombe, in a bid to bridge to the early break. On the final ascent of the stage, the 1.3 km of Challacombe, Alaphilippe showed his strength in catching the young Briton, but as the race descended into Barnstaple, six more chasers in turn caught the Quickstep and EF-Drapac duo, and the eight then swept up Davies.

“We didn’t know what the gap was until eight kilometres to go, when we started asking each other,” said Meyer. “I knew it was going to be touch and go, I knew those names were going to come up very quick in the last few kilometres.” At the line Bevin and the rest had closed to just 2 seconds behind, with Carthy finishing 9 seconds off the back after having problems with his chain.

“I took a break in 2016 and came back stronger and happier,” said Meyer, who has won nine world titles in track endurance events, most recently the points race in Apeldoorn this spring. “I was happy that with my track background I could negotiate the sprint with whoever it was, I got the Italian [Tonelli – ed.] to lead from the kilometre to 500 to go and didn’t have a problem.”

Results :
1 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 4:14:46
2 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:01
3 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:02
4 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
5 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
7 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
8 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
9 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
10 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:09
11 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:14
12 Mads WŸrtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:39
13 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
14 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
15 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
16 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain
17 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
18 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
19 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
20 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Tom Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins
22 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
23 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
24 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
25 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
26 Stephen Williams (GBr) Great Britain
27 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
29 Dmitry Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
30 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
31 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
32 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
33 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
34 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
35 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:03:22
36 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
37 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
38 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon-Eisberg
39 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
40 Emils Liepins (Lat) ONE Pro Cycling
41 James Fouché (NZL) Team Wiggins
42 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
43 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins
44 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
45 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
46 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
47 Stefan Kung SWI BMC Racing Team
48 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
49 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
50 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
51 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
52 Hayden McCormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
53 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
54 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain
55 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team
56 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
57 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
58 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
59 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
60 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
61 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
62 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain
63 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
64 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
65 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
66 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
67 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
68 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
69 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
70 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
71 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
72 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
73 Robert Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
74 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
75 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:26
76 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Great Britain
77 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
78 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
79 Mark Downey (Irl) Team Wiggins
80 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
81 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
82 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
83 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:11:24
84 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:11:54
85 Matthew Teggart (Irl) Team Wiggins
86 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
87 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
88 Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
89 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis
90 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
91 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
92 Joe Nally (GBr) Great Britain
93 Thomas Baylis (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
94 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
95 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
96 José Neves Fernandes (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
97 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
98 Christopher Latham (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
99 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
100 Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor
101 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
102 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
103 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
104 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
105 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
106 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott
107 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
108 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
109 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
110 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
111 Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor
112 Rory Townsend (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
113 Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor
114 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
115 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:28:05
116 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNF Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Joey Walker (GBr) Team Wiggins
DNF Edward Theuns (Bel) Team Sunweb

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 8:15:30
2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
3 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 0:00:08
4 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:12
5 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
6 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
7 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
9 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
10 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:19
11 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:22
12 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:49
13 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
14 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
15 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
16 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
17 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
18 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
19 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
20 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
21 Tom Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins
22 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team
23 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
24 Mads WŸrtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
26 Dmitry Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
27 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
28 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
29 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
30 Stephen Williams (GBr) Great Britain
31 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
32 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
33 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:01:14
34 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:42
35 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:28
36 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:03:32
37 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins
38 Emils Liepins (Lat) ONE Pro Cycling
39 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team
40 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
41 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
42 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
43 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain
44 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
45 Stefan Kung SWI BMC Racing Team
46 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon-Eisberg
47 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
48 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
49 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
50 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain
51 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
52 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
53 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
54 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
55 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
56 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
57 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
58 Hayden McCormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
59 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
60 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
61 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
62 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
63 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
64 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
65 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
66 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
67 Robert Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
68 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:06:26
69 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:06:30
70 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:06:36
71 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
72 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
73 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
74 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:07:27
75 James Fouché (NZL) Team Wiggins
76 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
77 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
78 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
79 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:08:18
80 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
81 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Great Britain 0:11:16
82 Mark Downey (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:11:22
83 Matthew Teggart (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:11:55
84 Joe Nally (GBr) Great Britain 0:12:04
85 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
86 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
87 Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor
88 Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor
89 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
90 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
91 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
92 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
93 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
94 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
95 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
96 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
97 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
98 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott 0:12:57
99 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:14:30
100 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
101 Thomas Baylis (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
102 Christopher Latham (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
103 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
104 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
105 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:15:19
106 Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor 0:15:55
107 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg 0:15:59
108 Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
109 Rory Townsend (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg 0:16:47
110 Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:16:51
111 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
112 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
113 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:17:42
114 José Neves Fernandes (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:18:42
115 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:28:15
116 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin