Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

September 04, 2018

Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 3 – Bristol – Bristol : 125 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.

Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) triumphed on stage 3 of the 2018 Tour of Britain, winning in a reduced bunch sprint on the Downs in Bristol.

After a short but leg-sapping day in the hilly terrain south of Bristol, Alaphilippe profited from a strong lead-out from teammate Bob Jungels on the home straight and held off Patrick Bevin (BMC Racing) and Emils Liepins (ONE Pro Cycling) to take the victory.

Race leader Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani-CSF) was distanced on the late haul up to and over the Clifton Suspension Bridge and slipped out of the green jersey.

Despite the presence of Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott), who’d started the day second overall on the same time as Tonelli, in the front group, the overall lead went to Bevin thanks to time bonuses. Starting the day eight seconds down, the Kiwi collected six seconds for his runner-up finish and two seconds for being second at the first intermediate sprint of the day.

Meyer, then, still finds himself in second place, tied on time with the leader – albeit a different leader – while Alaphilippe moves up to third overall at two seconds.

“I’m really really happy – like always when we win – but especially today because we tried since start of the race and today we knew it was a good opportunity,” said Alaphilippe.

“The team did a great job all day, they controlled the race – especially the finale With Bob we were together trying to attack or maybe sprint with me and in the end he did a perfect lead-out. I was also really happy to finish the job of my team with a nice victory.”

The stage was short at 125km but typical of the Tour of Britain with grippy and near-constantly undulating roads. Though a sizeable group made it to the finish – including Caleb Ewan (Mitchelton-Scott) – it was, as Bevin noted, a sprint that “almost happened in slow-motion”.

The legs were further sapped by the fact that the racing was aggressive throughout, with no true breakaway forming. Following the early intermediate sprint the riders hit the Mendip Hills, where the short climb of Cuck Hill preceded the iconic Cheddar Gorge ascent, but nothing stuck.

After Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) had attacked over the top of Cheddar Gorge, stage 1 winner André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) did succeed in driving a move clear – along with Matthew Holmes (Madison-Genesis), Pascal Eenkhoorn (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Romain Cardis (Direct Energie), and later Ruben Fernandez (Movistar), Iljo Keisse (Quick-Step Floors), and Dmitri Strakhov (Katusha-Alpecin) – but they only lasted around 20km as Team Sky worked on the front of the peloton.

Another move soon went, with just over 50km to go, and gained more ground. Tony Martin (Katusha-Alpecin) initiated it with a solo attack and was later joined by Ben Swift (Great Britain), Jon Mould (JLT-Condor), and Angelo Tulik (Direct Energie). They never extended their lead beyond the minute-mark and were caught on the approach back to Bristol with 9km to go.

The late climb of Providence Lane – short at 1km but steep at 8.8% threatened to shatter the bunch late on. Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) and Tom Pidcock (Wiggins) both attacked but no one really opened up a gap, even if the strung-out bunch had reduced in number.

Though uncategorized, the riders had to tackle another steep climb up towards the finish on the Downs, which further thinned out the bunch. BMC were prominent in the final couple of kilometres but Quick-Step seized control on the home straight – ever so slightly uphill – through Jungels. It was a strong lead-out but Alaphilippe had to adapt as Mads Wurst Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin) tried to catch him off guard by going from range. Alaphilippe jumped straight onto the wheel before finishing the job.

Results :
1 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 2:47:41
2 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team
3 Emils Liepins (Lat) ONE Pro Cycling
4 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain
5 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
6 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
7 Mads WŸrtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
8 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team
9 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
10 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
11 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
12 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
13 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
14 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
15 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
16 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
17 Tom Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins
18 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
19 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
20 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
21 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
22 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
23 Dmitry Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
24 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
25 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
26 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
27 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data
28 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team
29 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb
30 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
31 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
32 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
33 Mark Downey (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:00:06
34 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
35 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
36 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
37 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
38 Robert Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
39 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:00:10
40 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:19
41 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:00:40
42 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:51
43 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
44 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
45 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
46 Hayden McCormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
47 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
48 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
49 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon-Eisberg 0:01:02
50 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:23
51 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
52 José Neves Fernandes (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
53 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
54 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins
55 Stefan Kung SWI BMC Racing Team
56 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
57 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
58 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
59 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
60 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
61 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:01:46
62 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:01
63 Stephen Williams (GBr) Great Britain 0:02:06
64 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors
65 Matthew Teggart (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:02:59
66 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
67 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
68 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
69 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF
70 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
72 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
73 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
74 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
75 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
76 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
77 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
78 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
79 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
80 Thomas Baylis (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling
81 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
82 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
83 Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor 0:03:58
84 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:05:36
85 Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
86 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
87 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
88 Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor
89 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
90 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
91 Rory Townsend (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
92 Joe Nally (GBr) Great Britain
93 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
94 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain
95 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Great Britain
96 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
97 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain
98 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
99 James Fouché (NZL) Team Wiggins
100 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
101 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis
102 Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor
103 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
104 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
105 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
106 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
107 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
108 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
109 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
110 Christopher Latham (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:06:45
111 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:07:04
112 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott 0:07:31
113 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
114 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor
115 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:09:31
DNS Lucas Hamilton (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Patrick Bevin (NZl) BMC Racing Team 11:03:11
2 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:02
4 Jasha Sutterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:00:12
5 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky
6 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
7 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors
8 Primoz Roglic (Slo) LottoNL-Jumbo
9 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:19
10 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:00:22
11 Mads WŸrtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:46
12 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
13 Dmitry Strakhov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
14 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:49
15 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
16 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
17 Jos van Emden (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
18 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
19 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
20 Tom Pidcock (GBr) Team Wiggins
21 Neilson Powless (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
22 Max Stedman (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
23 Edmund Bradbury (GBr) JLT Condor
24 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie
25 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:51
26 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:08
27 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:01:24
28 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:01:40
29 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:42
30 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:49
31 Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:55
32 Stephen Williams (GBr) Great Britain
33 Emils Liepins (Lat) ONE Pro Cycling 0:03:28
34 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:03:32
35 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
36 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
37 Svein Tuft (Can) Mitchelton-Scott
38 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:38
39 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
40 Robert Power (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
41 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:03:48
42 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
43 James Oram (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling 0:04:12
44 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:23
45 Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie
46 Hayden McCormick (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
47 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
48 Maarten Wynants (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
49 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon-Eisberg 0:04:34
50 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:04:55
51 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins
52 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
53 Stefan Kung SWI BMC Racing Team
54 Matti Breschel (Den) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
55 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
56 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
57 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:06:27
58 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:06:30
59 Jay Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:06:31
60 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
61 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
63 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
64 Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
65 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Team Sunweb 0:07:27
66 Mark McNally (GBr) Wanty-Groupe Gobert 0:07:59
67 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:08:50
68 Ben Swift (GBr) Great Britain 0:09:08
69 Fred Wright (GBr) Great Britain
70 Lennard Hofstede (Ned) Team Sunweb
71 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:09:13
72 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie 0:09:35
73 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data 0:10:26
74 Mark Downey (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:11:28
75 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:02
76 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:12:10
77 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Lotto Soudal
78 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:12:12
79 Taylor Phinney (USA) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
80 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:13:03
81 James Fouché (NZL) Team Wiggins
82 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:13:53
83 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
84 Matthew Teggart (Irl) Team Wiggins 0:14:54
85 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:15:03
86 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
87 Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
88 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Great Britain 0:16:52
89 Thomas Baylis (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:17:29
90 Andrea Guardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
91 Jonathan Mould (GBr) JLT Condor 0:17:37
92 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie 0:17:38
93 Joe Nally (GBr) Great Britain 0:17:40
94 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
95 Thomas Stewart (GBr) JLT Condor
96 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky
97 Daniel McLay (GBr) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale
98 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
99 Peter Williams (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:18:18
100 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:19:07
101 Thomas Moses (GBr) JLT Condor 0:19:53
102 José Neves Fernandes (Por) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:20:05
103 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie 0:20:06
104 George Pym (GBr) Madison Genesis
105 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
106 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mitchelton-Scott 0:20:28
107 Christopher Latham (GBr) ONE Pro Cycling 0:21:15
108 Alex Paton (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg 0:21:35
109 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg
110 Rory Townsend (GBr) Canyon-Eisberg 0:22:23
111 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:22:27
112 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:24:22
113 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:25:13
114 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:29:38
115 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:33:51