Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 6 [FULL STAGE]

September 7, 2018

Tour of Britain 2018 – Stage 6 – Barrow-in-Furness – Whinlatter Pass : 169 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 pinewooded climb of Whinlatter Pass was expected to prove decisive in the Tour of Britain and the final ascent provided the perfect springboard for Julian Alaphilippe, who made a full-throttle assault on the general classification in the Tour of Britain at the expense of race leader Primoz Roglic, with Team Sky’s Wout Poels taking the stage.

The 3.2km ascent was tackled twice in the opposite direction to the previous stage’s team time trial won by Roglic’s LottoNL-Jumbo team, albeit with the same finish line, and with the first time up merely a leg-softener, Alaphilippe waited until 2.1km to go on the wooded slopes before making his move, after a massive effort from his team mate Bob Jungels had done the initial damage.

While EF Education-First Drapac’s Hugh Carthy joined the Frenchman in setting an aggressive pace at the front, Roglic clung grimly to their wheels, with Poels biding his time a few metres behind until he had settled into his rhythm. With 1.4km remaining, Roglic gave best, and was unable even to maintain a decent tempo as he dropped rapidly back to a second group including the likes of Scott Davies from Dimension Data and Tom Pidcock (Team Wiggins).

Poels linked up with Carthy and Alaphilippe just inside a kilometre to go, then waited briefly for the perfect moment to attack to take the fourth Tour of Britain stage win of his career, surging round the tight right-hand bend into the finish straight 2sec ahead of the Frenchman.

This was the third summit finish he has taken in this race after victories at Hartside and Haytor, and it enabled him to leapfrog over Roglic and move into second overall, 17sec behind Alaphilippe, who dropped Carthy to take second place and a useful 6sec time bonus.

“Bob did an incredible effort for me,” said Alaphilippe, who had won the stage into Bristol on Tuesday. “I tried to attack to get a gap, I was riding to get the jersey. Wout Poels was fresher than me, so I’m not disappointed.”

Before the start, the word in the caravan was that Sky and Quick-Step Floors would attempt to split the field in pieces when the road turned left after 2.5 kilometres to go alongside Morecambe Bay, with a strong north-westerly breeze blowing from the right. Around 40 riders were stuck in the second split, including Jasha Sutterlin, lying seventh overall, and Dimitri Strahov, 11th overall. The gap rose to 45 seconds before the first sprint of the day after 11km, where Alaphilippe snaffled three seconds and Jungels two.

Shortly afterwards, Alaphilippe and Roglic were involved in a minor pile-up, which caused the leading bunch to sit up, permitting the back markers to regain contact, while up front the day’s escape formed. It included two former world time trial champions in Tony Martin and Vasil Kiriyenka, the British national champion Conor Swift, and Lotto-Soudal’s British rider James Shaw, the best placed overall in 24th.

Lotto let the move have its head, but were more concerned about a seven-rider chasing group which set off during the regrouping, including Scott Thwaites, Matti Breschel, Rory Townsend, Enrico Barbin and Rob Power. The Dutch team put in a concerted effort to bring the septet to heel by the first King of the Mountains climb at Hawkshead, after which the stage settled down, with Matt Holmes and Nicholas Dlamini duking it out for King of the Mountains points behind the break, as the peloton waited for those two climbs of Whinlatter.

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

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