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September 11, 2019
Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 5 – Birkenhead – Birkenhead : 174,1 km
Every year there is a new angle in the story that the Tour of Britain has written since 2004,
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September 11, 2019
Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 5 – Birkenhead – Birkenhead : 174,1 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.
Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) confirmed he is the fastest sprinter at the Tour of Britain, winning the sprint in Birkenhead Park across the Mersey from Liverpool, to take his third win of the race.
Teammate Mike Teunissen gave Groenewegen a high-speed lead-out on the sweeping left finish and the Dutchman distanced his rivals when he opened up his sprint.
21-year-old Great Britain rider Matt Walls was on Groenwegen’s wheel and stayed there to finish second. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) came through along the barriers to finish third, while Britain’s Ben Swift (Team Ineos) was seventh and Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) tenth.
Local rider Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) crashed mid-stage and had to abandon. He was taken to hospital for checks.
Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) was further back, out of the top ten, and so thanks to a four-second time bonus for third place, Trentin took back the race leader’s green jersey.
He now leads Van der Poel by three seconds, with Jasper de Buyst (Lotto Soudal) at 10 seconds.
Trentin, Van der Poel and the other overall contenders will fight for vital seconds in Thursday’s 14.2km individual time trial in Pershore in South West England. The Tour of Britain ends in Manchester on Sunday.
Groenewegen has now won 14 times so far this season, hitting the line first even when he was not at his best.
“My morale was good but my legs weren’t so good,” he admitted.
“The team rode all day on the front and then gave me a perfect lead-out to help me win, I’m very happy with that. Koen Bouwman rode on the front all day and so only having four riders for the final makes it harder. There was a short climb in the final too but we moved up after that and I won.”
Trentin raced in the sky blue points jersey but was happy to be in the leader’s green jersey after the stage. Overall leadership means he will start last in Thursday’s time trial and so will be able to compare his ride against that of Van der Poel.
“I’m back in green and luckily my guys don’t have to ride for me tomorrow, they can have an easier day with the time trial,” the Italian said, knowing every second will count in this year’s Tour of Britain.
“He (Van der Poel) is going to be good, nobody knows how good but I guess he’s going to be good. We’ll see what happens but I’ll kind of ride defensively. I’ve got a lead, so I just hope Van der Poel is not as good as he was yesterday (Tuesday in Kendal).”
How it happened
The 174km stage around the Wirral headland across the Mersey River from Liverpool was expected to be a day for the sprinters but with strong winds blowing off the North Sea, there was a sense of nerves and expectation at the start.
Van der Poel cheekily tried an early attack but the peloton pulled him back and then allowed a four-rider move go clear. In there were King of the Mountains leader Jacob Scott (Swift Carbon), Rob Scott (Wiggins Le Col), Matt Bostock (Canyon dhb) and Emil Viniebo (Riwal Readynez). None were a threat overall and so Corendon-Circus let them open a two-minute gap for the loop south into Cheshire and North Wales.
Jacob Scott was the first to the top of the first climb, helping to defend his black jersey. Corendon-Circus continued to lead the chase on the road back to the Wirral, aware that crosswinds in the final kilometres on the exposed coast roads could spark echelons and attacks. Their efforts brought the lead down to less than a minute but a crash with 50km to race, slowed the pace briefly. Local hero and 2016 Tour of Britain winner Steve Cummings was caught up in the crash and was forced to abandon. Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) and sprint classification leader Rory Townsend (Canyon DHB) also went down hard but the racing went on at speed.
After taking more points on Flaybrick Hill with 35km to race, Jacob Scott eased up and with Rob Scott also distanced, only Viniebo and Bostock were out front. They punched their lead out past a minute as the peloton upped the pace in fear of the echelons and attacks on the coast.
The wind was blowing from the North Sea but not quite enough to split the peloton. Corendon-Circus stayed on the front but were happy with the breakaway and none of their rivals tried their hand.
The gap to the peloton was 1:20 as the race passed through the finish with 30km to go. However, the chase was on and a sprint was the default finish expected next time back in Birkenhead Park.
Viniebo and Bostock were eventually caught on the final climb of Flaybrick Hill after several attacks were pulled back. The young Great Britain team was not afraid to take over at the head of the peloton after an attack by Simon Clarke (EF Education First) was pulled back.
Swift was there too but Teunissen dragged Groenewegen up to the front as the riders entered the park. His superior speed provided a perfect lead-out for Groenewegen to do his thing and win yet again.
Results :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 3:57:31
2 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain
3 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
4 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb
5 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
6 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos
8 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
9 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott
10 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
11 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
12 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
13 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
14 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus
15 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
16 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
17 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
19 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
20 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
21 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
22 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain
23 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
24 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott
25 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
26 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
27 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
28 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
29 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
30 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
31 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
32 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
33 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
34 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
35 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
36 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
37 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
38 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
39 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
40 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
41 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
42 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
43 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal
44 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
45 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data
46 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
47 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
48 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
49 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
50 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
51 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
52 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
53 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
54 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team
55 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
56 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
57 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
58 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
59 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
60 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
61 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
62 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
63 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
64 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:06
65 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:01:09
66 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
67 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First 0:01:24
68 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:29
69 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
70 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
71 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
72 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol
73 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
74 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
75 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
76 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
77 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain
78 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus
79 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental
80 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:01:50
81 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:03
82 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
83 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:07
84 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:11
85 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
86 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:02:13
87 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:14
88 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:33
89 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:02:40
90 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
91 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
92 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
93 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
94 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:03:35
95 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
96 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
97 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
98 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus
99 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:03:37
100 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
101 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
102 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
103 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:04:59
104 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:45
105 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:05:56
106 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus
107 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:06:05
108 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:06:45
109 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:09:34
110 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
DNF Juri Hollmann (Ger) Heizomat Rad-Net.de
DNF Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data
DNF Luis Villalobos (Mex) Aevolo
DNS Loïc Vliegen (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
General Classification after Stage 5 :
1 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 21:33:55
2 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 0:00:03
3 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:10
4 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:00:17
5 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:18
6 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:22
7 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
8 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
9 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
10 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
11 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
12 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
13 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
14 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
15 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
16 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:30
17 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
19 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
20 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
21 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:00:33
22 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:00:41
23 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
24 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
25 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
26 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:00:43
27 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
28 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
29 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:00:47
30 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:50
31 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:53
32 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:01
33 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
34 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
35 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:02:12
36 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:03:12
37 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:31
38 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:04:09
39 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:04:13
40 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First 0:04:17
41 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:05:13
42 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:28
43 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:07:42
44 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale
45 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
46 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:46
47 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:07:58
48 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:09:02
49 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:09:11
50 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:11:20
51 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus 0:11:48
52 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:12:00
53 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:13:19
54 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:13:29
55 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:14:19
56 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:14:57
57 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
58 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:31
59 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:17:19
60 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:17:22
61 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:18:06
62 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain 0:18:23
63 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:18:29
64 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
65 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
66 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First 0:18:30
67 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain 0:18:37
68 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
69 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:18:38
70 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:19:07
71 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb
72 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:19:23
73 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain 0:19:26
74 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:19:57
75 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:20:06
76 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:20:11
77 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:20:13
78 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain 0:20:29
79 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:21:23
80 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:21:24
81 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:21:30
82 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:22:45
83 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:22:48
84 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:23:27
85 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:23:52
86 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:24:14
87 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:24:25
88 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:24:42
89 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:24:48
90 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:25:29
91 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:25:52
92 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:26:06
93 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:26:52
94 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:27:01
95 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:27:13
96 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:27:22
97 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:27:23
98 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:29:41
99 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:29:57
100 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:30:09
101 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:30:55
102 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:31:18
103 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:31:20
104 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:31:31
105 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:33:43
106 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:36:26
107 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:38:17
108 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:38:59
109 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:40:26
110 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:51:18