Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

September 14, 2019

Tour of Britain 2019 – Stage 8 – Altrincham – Manchester : 166 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) sealed the overall victory in the Tour of Britain with his third stage win of the race, topping Sunweb’s Cees Bol in a photo finish sprint. Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) finished third.

Mitchelton-Scott took firm control of the final lead-out, with Trentin parked solidly on Van der Poel’s wheel, but Bol started his sprint early and the Dutchman had to fight to get around his compatriot.

Van der Poel eked out the win with a well-timed bike throw, with Trentin making a powerful late surge to finish a close third.

Trentin could be consoled with a victory the points classification, while Rory Townsend (Canyon-dhb) won the intermediate sprint competition and Jacob Scott claiming the mountains classification.

“It wasn’t an easy day today, a lot of teams tried to attack us,” Van der Poel said. “Coming into Tour of Britain I didn’t really think it was possible because of the time trial which I hadn’t done in a really long time. But after the time trial I started to believe I could win the GC, but today was harder than I thought it would be and I’m really happy with the feeling also today and it’s been a good week for us.

Van der Poel thanked his Corendon Circus teammates, saying, “They’ve really over done it I think, really, I’m proud of them. We are not the biggest team here, but they gave everything they had, also after the steep climb we were still three riders in the first group, and they did an amazing job after yesterday.”

How it unfolded

With the second victory of Van der Poel on the brutal slopes of Burton Dassett on stage 7 where he consolidated his lead over Mitchelton-Scott’s Matteo Trentin, the main interest of the final stage into Manchester turned to one where the smaller teams tried to outwit Corendon-Circus and the World Tour squads who were hoping for another sprint finish.

Straight from the flag dropping at the exit of Altrincham three riders went away, Matt Holmes ( Madison Genesis), Gabriel Cullaigh (Wiggins-Le Col) and the Danish rider Emil Vinjebo (Riwal Readynez).

The best-placed rider of the trio being Holmes at 1:30 from the leader it was an audacious move for the British rider and one which was kept well under control by the peloton. Corendon-Circus assumed the majority of work in holding the escapees in view with some help from Jumbo-Visma.

Ultimately the break was always going to be caught and when Team Ineos accelerated on one of the unclassified climbs with 80km to go the race exploded into action.

With Dylan Groenewegen relegated to the second group, Ineos and Mitchelton-Scott piled on the pressure in the front group of roughly 35 riders. By the bottom of the final classified climb Ramsbottom Rake, 73km to go, the gap to the Groenewegen and co. was 47 seconds. It was definitely over for them the when tactics of Team Ineos became clear and Pavel Sivakov attacked on the 19% slope taking a maximum lead of 15 seconds before being brought back by Lotto Soudal.

Immediately Michal Golas and then Moscon tried their hand which then sparked off a crazy twenty minutes of individual attacks and little groups going off the front and being brought back.

Eventually, Movistar’s Andrey Amador pulled clear and established a 27-second lead which he kept to the final Eisberg sprint ensuring he took the maximum bonus. Behind the sole leader Dries de Bondt pipped Matteo Trentin meaning that the Italian only closed the gap to the race leader by one second.

Amador was eventually neutralised following a skirmish which included the first two on GC and then Golas, Larry Warbasse and Mark Christian took off. They held a slim lead until they too were taken back inside the last 10km under the impetus of Lotto Soudal and Mitchelton-Scott.

Into the final kilometres and there was a late attempt by Gianni Moscon but Mitchelton-Scott were wise to it and hit the front with the aim of putting Trentin in the ideal position. However, they got it wrong on one of the last corners and Trentin lost his leadout briefly which then left Sunweb’s Cees Bol to launch his sprint from 250 metres only for Van der Poel to come off his wheel in the last 100 metres and pip him with a well-timed bike throw.

Trentin was third and a fast-finishing Mike Teunissen.

With a third stage win, Van der Poel confirmed his status as the standout rider of the race and with the forthcoming World Championships in Yorkshire, he’ll start as one of the big favourites for the elite road race.

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

Final General Classification :
1 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus 29:47:41
2 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:17
3 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:50
4 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:00:52
5 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:01
6 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
7 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:03
8 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:01:04
9 Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:07
10 Amund Grøndahl Jansen (Nor) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:01:08
11 Simon Clarke (Aus) EF Education First
12 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:01:10
13 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:25
14 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:01:27
15 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:34
16 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team Sunweb
17 Ben Swift (GBr) Team Ineos 0:01:35
18 Alexander Kamp (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:01:38
19 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:01:44
20 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:01:49
21 Danilo Wyss (Swi) Dimension Data 0:01:58
22 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:02:19
23 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:02:27
24 Brent van Moer (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:41
25 Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:02:51
26 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:03:15
27 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos 0:03:44
28 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:04:10
29 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:05:08
30 Florian Stork (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:07:53
31 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:25
32 James Shaw (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:08:41
33 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:08:56
34 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:09:09
35 Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Movistar Team 0:09:14
36 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:22
37 Julien Vermote (Bel) Dimension Data 0:11:49
38 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:04
39 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:12:54
40 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:13:03
41 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:14:30
42 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:15:15
43 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:15:52
44 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:16:21
45 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) EF Education First 0:16:32
46 Aaron Verwilst (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:16:44
47 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy 0:17:15
48 Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (Nor) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:17:19
49 Philipp Walsleben (Ger) Corendon-Circus 0:19:02
50 Jos van Emden (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:19:40
51 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:20:42
52 Carlos Verona (Spa) Movistar Team 0:20:51
53 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:20:56
54 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:21:45
55 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos 0:21:46
56 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:22:33
57 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:24:51
58 Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:24:54
59 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:25:02
60 Sacha Modolo (Ita) EF Education First 0:25:43
61 Jake Stewart (GBr) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:27:02
62 Matthew Walls (GBr) Great Britain 0:28:09
63 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain 0:29:11
64 Alex Colman (Bel) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:30:33
65 Hector Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
66 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin 0:30:35
67 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:32:42
68 Conor Dunne (Irl) Israel Cycling Academy 0:32:46
69 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:32:50
70 Edward Laverack (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:33:08
71 Trond Håkon Trondsen (Nor) Team Coop 0:33:24
72 Boris Vallee (Bel) Wanty-Gobert 0:33:37
73 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty-Gobert 0:34:28
74 Cees Bol (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:34:47
75 Jim Brown (GBr) Great Britain
76 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:34:55
77 Samuel Jenner (Aus) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:35:00
78 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:35:54
79 Robert Scott (GBr) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:36:21
80 Peter Williams (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:37:09
81 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott 0:37:12
82 Jacob Scott (GBr) Swift Carbon Pro Cycling 0:38:25
83 Rhys Britton (Gbr) Great Britain 0:38:56
84 Bagdonas Gediminas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:39:36
85 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:39:37
86 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Katusha-Alpecin 0:40:09
87 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:40:34
88 Joey Walker (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:40:58
89 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Corendon-Circus 0:42:55
90 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Corendon-Circus 0:42:59
91 Remy Mertz (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:43:15
92 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:43:30
93 James Fouche (NZl) Team Wiggins Lecol 0:43:41
94 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:43:59
95 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:44:14
96 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:44:58
97 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:45:03
98 Andreas Nielsen (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:45:26
99 Ben Hardy (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:46:36
100 Michael Cuming (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:47:21
101 Koen Bouwman (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:48:45
102 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Riwal Readynez Cycling Team 0:49:23
103 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:50:07
104 Thomas Stewart (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:52:09
105 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:52:10
106 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes 0:59:19