Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 7 [FULL STAGE]

September 13, 2019

Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 7 – Warwick – Burton Dassett Country Park : 188,7 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.

Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) won stage 7 of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain. The Dutchman sprinted up the short but steep climb atop Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, beating Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) by one second and Simon Clarke (EF Education First) by three second.

“I saw that there was still someone on my wheel,” said Van der Poel of his winning attack on the final climb through Burton Dassett Park. “It was a flatter part in the climb and there I took the time to recover and get some breath again so I could focus on the final 200m sprint.

“I feel pretty good. I feel better day-by-day and I surprised myself with the TT yesterday. I think it’s an indication of my shape if you can ride that fast over 14km on your own.

“I knew that finishes like today suit me well. It was a pretty hard day. The first 70km there were a lot of attacks and the team handled it perfectly. They did an amazing job.

“I knew from the penultimate climb that it was up to me in the group favourites. I was all alone and I had to gamble a little bit but coming into the final ascent I knew that I had a pretty good chance to take the win today.

The gamble paid off for Van der Poel, who not only took the stage win, but extended his lead to 12 seconds ahead of Trentin and 40 seconds to Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) ahead of the finale stage 8’s 166km race into Manchester.

How it unfolded

Stage 7 at the Tour of Britain was a 186km stage from Warwick in central England into a series of 12km finishing circuits that ended with a climb at Burton Dassett Country Park (1.7km at 5 per cent).

The stage included three intermediate sprints at Berkswell (19km), Brinklow (80km), and Pillerton Priors (142km). The toughest part of the stage included a succession of four categorised climbs: Friz Hill (134km), Sun Rising Hill (149km), and two ascents of the climb through Burton Dassett (163km and 175km) before the final ascent to the finish line.

Van der Poel started the day with a six-second lead over Trentin in the overall classification. Given the punchy stage suited his capabilities, it seemed unlikely that anyone could take the lead from him.

After van der Poel tried an early attack and chased down, a breakaway of three cleared the field in the first 40km. It included Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale), Remy Mertz (Lotto Soudal) and Alex Colman (Canyon dhb). Gallopin was the best-placed rider in the move at 3:44 minutes down, and so they posed little threat to van der Poel.

They passed through Atherstone with a 35-second advantage, just enough of a gap to tempt riders back in the peloton to make the bridge. Ben Swift (Team Ineos) and Connor Swift (Great Britain) teamed up in pursuit of the breakaway it was a short-lived move, as it all came back together.

The counter-move included Dylan van Baarle (Team Ineos) and Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott), 1:15 down in the overall classification, both clearing the field as they raced into Bedworth. That gap pushed out to over a minute after they crossed through the intermediate sprint in Brinklow.

The leaders continued to gain time nearly 2:30, on the Corendon-Circus-led peloton. Meanwhile, Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale) and Carlos Verona (Movistar) attempted to bridge to the leading duo but wound up in no man’s land, unable to connect with the leaders up the road. They recognized that their efforts were futile and eventually sat up and let the peloton catch them.

Meyer and Van Baarle had a healthy gap of 2:40 as they raced over Friz Hill, 134km into the stage, and toward the final 12km circuits.

As they race onto the circuits, Corendon-Circus brought the gap down to under one minute as they rode for van der Poel. By the time the breakaway hit the second circuit, however, Van Baarle was the only rider left out front, as the attacks flurried behind him from the peloton.

A front group of favourites raced into the base of the final ascent all looking for the stage win. It was Van der Poel, once again, who proved strongest by taking his second stage win and extending his lead in the overall classification.

Results :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 4:07:49
2 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:01
3 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First 0:00:03
4 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
5 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
6 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos 0:00:05
8 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert
9 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
10 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma
11 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
12 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
13 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
14 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
15 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale
16 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
17 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team
18 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis
19 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
20 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:11
21 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
22 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
23 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data
24 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
25 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First
26 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:00:16
27 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:00:17
28 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
29 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
30 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
31 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb
32 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:00:23
33 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:25
34 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:00:34
35 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:00:39
36 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
37 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team
38 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
39 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:59
40 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
41 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
42 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain
43 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:01:16
44 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:28
45 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:30
46 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:35
47 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:38
48 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott
49 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:55
50 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
51 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
52 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:02:07
53 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
54 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:02:39
55 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol
56 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
57 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:02:52
58 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:38
59 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:04:54
60 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:05:24
61 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:05:28
62 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain
63 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
64 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team
65 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
66 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
67 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal
68 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
69 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
70 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus 0:05:37
71 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:05:43
72 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy
73 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
74 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
75 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop
76 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
77 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb
78 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
79 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol
80 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First
82 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis
83 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling
84 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
85 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
86 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
87 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert
88 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
89 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus
90 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First
91 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:08:36
92 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:10:58
93 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis
94 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:11:00
95 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
96 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
97 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:11:54
98 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
99 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol
100 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin
101 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
102 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
103 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus
104 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
105 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes
106 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental
107 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain
108 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:13:38
109 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:15:54
110 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal

General Classification after Stage 7 :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 25:58:25
2 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:12
3 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:40
4 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:00:42
5 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:51
6 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
7 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:53
8 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:00:57
9 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal
10 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:58
11 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
12 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:01:00
13 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:15
14 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:17
15 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:01:24
16 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:25
17 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:01:28
18 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:30
19 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:01:34
20 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:39
21 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:01:48
22 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:58
23 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:02:09
24 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:02:14
25 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:17
26 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:18
27 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:02:29
28 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:41
29 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:02:42
30 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:45
31 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:02:47
32 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:05
33 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:03:34
34 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:04:45
35 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:05:22
36 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:06:13
37 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:06:36
38 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:08:48
39 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:12
40 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:25
41 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:09:54
42 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First 0:10:05
43 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:10:17
44 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:10:52
45 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:11:54
46 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:20
47 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:13:13
48 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:13:56
49 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:14:15
50 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:24
51 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:14:32
52 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:15:18
53 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:05
54 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:18:24
55 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:18:27
56 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus 0:18:33
57 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:21:12
58 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain 0:21:42
59 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:22:01
60 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain 0:22:44
61 Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy 0:22:47
62 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:24:06
63 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:24:08
64 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:24:52
65 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First 0:25:33
66 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:26:15
67 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:26:19
68 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:26:26
69 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:26:41
70 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:26:52
71 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop 0:26:57
72 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:26:58
73 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:27:10
74 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:28:01
75 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:28:15
76 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain 0:28:20
77 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:28:33
78 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:29:27
79 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:29:54
80 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:30:10
81 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:30:42
82 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:31:58
83 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain 0:32:29
84 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:09
85 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:33:10
86 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:33:42
87 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:33:54
88 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:34:31
89 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:34:33
90 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:34:43
91 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:36:28
92 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:36:48
93 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:37:03
94 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:37:14
95 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:37:32
96 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:37:47
97 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:38:31
98 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:38:36
99 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:38:59
100 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:40:09
101 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:40:54
102 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:42:18
103 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:42:51
104 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:42:56
105 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:43:27
106 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:45:42
107 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:45:43
108 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:52:52
109 Rasmus Iversen (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:57:37
110 Tristan Robbins (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 1:10:25