Tour of Britain 2021 – Stage 1 [LAST 10 KM]

September 5, 2021

Tour of Britain 2021 – Stage 1 – Penzance – Bodmin : 180,8 km

After a one-year hiatus the Tour of Britain is back, ready and raring to kickstart many riders’ preparations for the upcoming World Championships. With a dynamic eight-day route that features stages in England, Wales and Scotland, this year’s race is one of the most ‘complete’ tours of Britain ever seen. Add to that a star-studded start list which contains the likes of Julian Alaphilippe, Wout van Aert and Mark Cavendish and you have all the makings of a truly memorable edition. The Tour of Britain is the UK’s flagship stage race and one of the most important warm-up events on the calendar for those riders with lofty, end-of-season goals. Back for the first time since 2019 due to a COVID-19-enforced hiatus, the race will – once again – serve as a testing ground for prospective World Champions. The eight-day race runs from September 5th to September 12th and features stages as far south as Penzance and as far north as Aberdeen. As the riders make their long trek north, they’ll tackle three stages for the sprinters, a decisive team time trial and four demanding hilly stages that cover quintessentially British terrain.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won the first stage of the Tour of Britain, and took the overall race lead, proving to be the strongest in a reduced bunch sprint.

Positioning was crucial given the speed of the final kilometre, and Van Aert was well-placed entering the short, steep ramp up to the finish.

Though Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) launched a trademark attack with 600m to go, he could not escape the marauding bunch and Van Aert leapfrogged him in the sprint to take the win.

Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM) tracked Van Aert but wasn’t able to get close and had to settle for second, while Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) claimed the final podium spot.

Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) trailed them to finish fourth, and there was a two-second gap to the next batch of riders, which included Alaphilippe, Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash), and Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation).

With 10 bonus seconds for the stage win, Van Aert pulls on the first navy leader’s jersey with a gap of four seconds over Eekhoff, six over Serrano, 10 over Hayter, and 12 over the Alaphilippe group.

How it unfolded

Through narrow roads and a thick Cornish drizzle, flanked by steep, grass banks and the huge crowds that appear whenever bike-racing comes to Britain, the race traversed the 180km from Penzance to Bodmin.

Despite a relatively fast neutral zone that strung out the peloton from the start, a five-man breakaway escaped, composed of Joey Rosskopf (Rally Cycling), Oliver Stockwell (Great Britain), Max Walker (TRINITY Racing) and the last two winners of the mountains classification- Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod) and Nic Dlamini (Team Qhubeka NextHash).

Content with this configuration, the WorldTour teams blocked the road and the familiar shapes of Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) and Tim Declercq (Deceuninck-Quickstep) surfaced from the depths of the peloton to control the race, allowing the breakaway a meagre three minutes lead.

During their time out front, the breakaway contested the intermediate sprints and mountain points scattered across the jagged Cornish landscape, and Scott emerged victorious in both these competitions. He took the win on Zennor Hill, the first climb of the day, and, while Dlamini recovered from a dropped chain on this climb to take maximum mountain points at the second and third opportunities to do so, this was not enough to displace Scott. Scott won both intermediate sprints as well, to complete his near-perfect day out.

Soon after the final classified climb, the leading quintet became a trio as Rosskopf punctured and Dlamini looked to conserve energy for later in the week. Both were reabsorbed by the peloton 35 kilometres from the finish while their breakaway companions survived another ten kilometres before they too were caught.

On the approach to Bodmin, the WorldTour teams fought for control of the peloton, each deploying their star names as domestiques. André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation), Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quickstep), Richie Porte (Ineos-Grenadiers) and Marc Soler (Movistar Team) in turn sat on the front of the race.

Deceuninck-Quickstep led the peloton into the town and, at the point where the road reared upwards in the final 500m, Alaphilippe attacked, though it was ultimately fruitless as Van Aert hunted him down to take the stage win.

In the end, such was van Aert’s dominance, he was able to turn his head in the closing metres, and he crossed the line nonchalantly while, a bike length behind him, Eekhoff and Serrano gasped for air.

Results :
1 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 4:33:36
2 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team DSM
3 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
4 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
5 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:00:02
6 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
8 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
10 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
11 Robert Doonaldson (GBr) Great Britain
12 James Shaw (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
13 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
14 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
15 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation
17 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
18 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
19 Alex Peters (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:00:07
20 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
21 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
22 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:12
24 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
25 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling
27 Michal Paluta (Pol) Global 6 Cycling
28 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
29 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
30 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
31 Thomas Mein (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
32 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
33 Matthew Gibson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
34 Charles Page (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
35 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB Sungod
36 Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Racing 0:00:19
37 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:20
38 Rudy Porter (Aus) Trinity Racing
39 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:23
40 Thomas Gloag (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:00:29
41 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:00:39
42 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:44
43 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:50
44 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:14
45 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
46 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
47 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
48 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
49 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:19
50 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:20
51 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:22
52 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
53 Joey Rosskopf (USA) Rally Cycling
54 Steve Lampier (GBr) Saint Piran
55 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
56 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
57 Maximilian Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
58 Ollie Peckover (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
59 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
60 Ross Lamb (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
61 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
62 Christopher Blevins (USA) Trinity Racing
63 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
64 Max Walker (GBr) Trinity Racing
65 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
66 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
67 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
69 Hans Becking (Ned) Global 6 Cycling
70 Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
71 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
72 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
73 James Mitri (NZl) Global 6 Cycling
74 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
75 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:18
76 Jokin Murguialday (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:41
77 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:02:54
78 Oliver Stockwell (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:14
79 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:03:49
80 Rhys Britton (GBr) Great Britain
81 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:04:28
82 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
83 Jacob Scott (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
84 Nícolas Sessler (Bra) Global 6 Cycling 0:04:52
85 William Bjergfelt (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:07:30
86 Ross Holland (GBr) Saint Piran
87 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
88 Simon Wilson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
89 Andrew Turner (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
90 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
91 William Tiball (GBr) Great Britain
92 Max Rushby (GBr) Great Britain
93 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
94 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
95 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
96 Bradley Symonds (GBr) Saint Piran
97 Christopher Latham (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
98 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
99 Tom Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
100 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
101 Oliver Maxwell (GBr) Saint Piran
102 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
103 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team 0:07:44
104 Ben Healy (Irl) Trinity Racing
105 Dan Erik Hansen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:09:54
106 Tim Edvard Pettersen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:10:26
DNF Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 4:33:26
2 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:04
3 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:06
4 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:10
5 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:00:12
6 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
7 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
8 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
10 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
11 Robert Doonaldson (GBr) Great Britain
12 James Shaw (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
13 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
14 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
15 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation
17 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
18 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
19 Alex Peters (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:00:17
20 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
21 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
22 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:22
24 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
25 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling
27 Michal Paluta (Pol) Global 6 Cycling
28 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
29 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
30 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
31 Thomas Mein (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
32 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
33 Matthew Gibson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
34 Charles Page (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
35 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB Sungod
36 Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Racing 0:00:29
37 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 0:00:30
38 Rudy Porter (Aus) Trinity Racing
39 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:33
40 Thomas Gloag (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:00:39
41 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:00:49
42 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:54
43 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:00
44 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:24
45 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
46 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
47 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
48 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
49 Max Walker (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:01:28
50 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:29
51 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:30
52 Joey Rosskopf (USA) Rally Cycling 0:01:31
53 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:32
54 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
55 Steve Lampier (GBr) Saint Piran
56 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
57 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
58 Maximilian Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
59 Ollie Peckover (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
60 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
61 Ross Lamb (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
62 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
63 Christopher Blevins (USA) Trinity Racing
64 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
65 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
66 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
67 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy
68 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
69 Hans Becking (Ned) Global 6 Cycling
70 Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
71 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
72 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
73 James Mitri (NZl) Global 6 Cycling
74 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
75 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:28
76 Jokin Murguialday (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:51
77 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:03:04
78 Oliver Stockwell (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:23
79 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:03:59
80 Rhys Britton (GBr) Great Britain
81 Jacob Scott (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:04:32
82 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:04:38
83 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
84 Nícolas Sessler (Bra) Global 6 Cycling 0:05:02
85 William Bjergfelt (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:07:40
86 Ross Holland (GBr) Saint Piran
87 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
88 Simon Wilson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
89 Andrew Turner (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
90 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
91 William Tiball (GBr) Great Britain
92 Max Rushby (GBr) Great Britain
93 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
94 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
95 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
96 Bradley Symonds (GBr) Saint Piran
97 Christopher Latham (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
98 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
99 Tom Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
100 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
101 Oliver Maxwell (GBr) Saint Piran
102 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
103 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team 0:07:54
104 Ben Healy (Irl) Trinity Racing
105 Dan Erik Hansen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:10:04
106 Tim Edvard Pettersen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:10:36