Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 2 [FULL STAGE]

September 8, 2019

Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 2 – Kelso – Kelso : 165,9 km

Every year there is a new angle in the story that the Tour of Britain has written since 2004, but this year’s is obvious: it’s an ideal build up event on British roads for the upcoming World Championships in Yorkshire. Not that all the stages will resemble the lumpy, technical parcours of Harrogate – although a few will do just that – but the Manchester finish comes 15 days before the elite men’s race, giving plenty of time for recovery before the big day. Not surprising then that the field is one of the strongest that the race has ever seen, headed by the prodigious Mathieu Van der Poel, whose victory in the Amstel Gold Race in late April makes him an obvious favourite for Harrogate.

The battle for the overall standings at the Tour of Britain began to take shape on a 165km loop through the Scottish borders, starting and finishing at Kelso, where the Italian Matteo Trentin gained the stage win and green race leader’s jersey after his Mitchelton-Scott team perfectly executed a plan to dislodge the stage 1 winner Dylan Groenewegen.

Two second category climbs in the final 40 kilometres gave the perfect platform, and on the first, Scott’s Gap, Mitchelton were aided and abetted by the restless Mathieu Van der Poel, who sprang out of the peloton together with Lotto-Soudal’s Frederick Frison in pursuit an earlier three-man breakaway of Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R), Pete Williams (Swift) and Chris Jenner (Wiggins).

Van der Poel and Frison caught the trio, and with Mitchelton and Ineos stringing out the peloton to bring back the Dutchman and company, that set the stage for a tough final climb of Dingleton, where it was Ineos’ turn to go on the offensive with Pavel Sivakov. As the young Russian went clear, Groenewegen was drifting off the back. The Dutchman had team mates with him, but his fate depended on how the front of the race reacted.

With both Mitchelton and Israel Cycling Academy – on behalf of Davide Cimolai – determined to press on, Groenewegen had little chance of regaining contact, along with other sprinters such as Mark Cavendish and Gabz Cullaigh. Whether the reduced front peloton would stay together was a different question though and one that looked like being answered when Alex Dowsett drifted gently off the front of the bunch with three kilometres remaining.

The Essex time trial specialist rapidly gained eight seconds and a stage victory for Katyusha beckoned briefly as he held off a strong chase from Israel Cycling Academy. He held onto about 25 metres lead going over the River Tweed and into the final sweeping left hander to the finish, but it was not enough, and Trentin zipped past with 100 metres go on on the cobbled finish, with Jasper de Buyst of Lotto-Soudal coming in second to the former European champion and Mike Teunissen in third, and not far from making up for Groenewegen’s lack of climbing ability.

“When Dowsett attacked it was a really strong move and even though Israel Cycling Academy began chasing, it was always going to be a matter of metres,” said Trentin. “He deserved the win, because it was a really good attack, but my guys delivered me well, even though they almost missed it on the second last corner. We were working so hard for the finale, first to get rid of Groenewegen, and then to prevent him from coming back.”

That placed the Italian in the race leader’s jersey from Cimolai, with another probable mass sprint beckoning in Newcastle after the run south-east from Berwick, but this time a definite uphill finish in Grey Street, where Teunissen or Van der Poel looked set to be the favourite, with the race lead likely to change shoulders once again.

Results :
1 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 3:55:53
2 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
3 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
4 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
5 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
6 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
7 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
8 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
9 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
10 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
11 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
12 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
13 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus
14 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
15 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
16 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
17 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
18 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
19 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
22 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
23 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
24 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
25 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
26 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
27 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
28 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
30 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
31 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
32 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
33 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
34 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
35 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
36 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
37 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
38 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
39 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
40 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
41 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
42 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
43 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
44 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
45 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
46 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
47 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
48 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
49 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
50 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
51 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
52 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
53 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
55 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
56 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
58 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
59 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
60 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
61 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
62 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:36
63 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy
64 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:03:31
65 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental
66 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
67 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain
68 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
69 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
70 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
71 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
72 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
73 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
74 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
75 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
76 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis
77 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
78 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
79 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain
80 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
81 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain
82 Luis Villalobos (Mex) Aevolo
83 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
85 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
86 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
87 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Education First
88 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
89 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
90 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
91 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
92 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
93 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
94 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
95 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol
96 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
97 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
98 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
99 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
100 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
101 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
102 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
103 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
104 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:06:28
105 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
106 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis
107 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
108 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal
109 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:07:43
110 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
111 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Heizomat Rad-Net.de
112 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
113 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
114 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol
115 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:10:06
116 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
117 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
119 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:15:15
DNF Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 8:35:25
2 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:11
3 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
4 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:13
5 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:00:16
6 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:17
7 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
8 Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
9 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
10 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
11 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
12 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
13 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
14 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
15 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
16 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
17 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
19 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
20 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
21 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
22 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
23 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
24 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
25 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
26 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
27 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
28 Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
29 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
30 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
31 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus
32 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
33 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
34 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
35 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
36 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
37 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
38 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
39 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
40 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
41 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
42 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
43 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
44 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
45 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
46 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
47 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
48 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
49 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
50 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
51 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
52 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
53 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
55 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
56 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
57 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
58 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
59 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
60 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
61 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
62 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:53
63 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy
64 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:38
65 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:03:39
66 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:03:43
67 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:03:48
68 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
69 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
70 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
71 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
72 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain
73 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty-Gobert
74 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
75 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
76 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
77 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
78 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
79 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
80 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
81 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
82 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental
83 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
84 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
85 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
86 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
87 Luis Villalobos (Mex) Aevolo
88 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain
89 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
90 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
91 Moreno Hofland (Ned) EF Education First
92 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
93 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
94 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis
95 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
96 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
97 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain
98 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
99 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
100 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
101 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:04:55
102 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:05:17
103 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:06:45
104 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
105 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis
106 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
107 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:07:11
108 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:07:25
109 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:07:56
110 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:07:58
111 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Heizomat Rad-Net.de 0:08:00
112 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
113 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
114 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
115 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:11
116 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:10:23
117 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:11:03
118 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:14:54
119 Mads Schmidt Würtz (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:15:32