Tour of Britain 2021 – Stage 2 [LAST 10 KM]

September 6, 2021

Tour of Britain 2021 – Stage 2 – Sherford – Exeter : 183,9 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.

Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling) soloed to a memorable breakaway victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain in Exeter, taking the leader’s blue jersey in the process, as he finished 33 seconds ahead of Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) and Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling), who led the peloton home.

The American had made the five-man break of the day in the early kilometres of the stage and proved the strongest man of the group as his companions faded one by one during the final third of the 183.9-kilometre stage.

He and his final remaining breakaway companion, the mountain and sprint classification leader Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod), were the last remaining out front at 24 kilometres from the line as the peloton were four minutes down. Carpenter made the decisive move at that point, dispatching Scott and going for glory.

Despite the best efforts of Qhubeka NextHash and Jumbo-Visma chasing behind him, the WorldTour teams had left it too late to make a catch, leaving Carpenter to enjoy his first win in four years and the race lead to go with it.

“I’ve been wanting a win in Europe for a number of years now and I’ve come really close so it feels amazing,” Carpenter said after the stage.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the last few weeks, and this just builds on it. The leader’s jersey is definitely something I didn’t expect but I’m very, very excited.

“We still had five minutes at 40 kilometres to go so I knew I just had to get rid of everyone else and not worry about babying anyone else to the line or having to worry about anyone outsprinting me. I’ve been outsprinted before on finishes like this.

Carpenter will wear the blue leader’s jersey during Tuesday’s 18.2km team time trial around Carmarthenshire in south Wales.

“I’ll just be trying to not get dropped by my team tomorrow. I had to go really, really deep today,” he said of his overall ambitions.

“I really wanted the stage win and the leader’s jersey is a big plus. I’ll try to defend it as best I can but I’m not really a climber – you’ll see that on stage 4. I’m just really thankful for this opportunity.”

Having taken nine bonus seconds during the stage and 10 more at the finish, Carpenter now holds the race lead by 22 seconds ahead of stage 1 winner Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) going into the team time trial, while Hayter lies third at 26 seconds.

Scott picked up 18 mountain points to extend his green jersey lead, while he also remains in the red sprint jersey despite finishing second to Carpenter at the three intermediate sprints. Lastly, Hayter moves into the light blue points jersey.

How it unfolded

The second stage of the Tour of Britain took the riders further east through southern south-west England as they tackled a 183.9-kilometre hilly stage from Sherford to Exeter. Three second-category climbs were dotted throughout the route, with the second half of the stage tougher than the first.

The climb of Strete at 54.2 kilometres came during an up-and-down first part of the stage and was followed up in quick succession by two intermediate sprints at Slapton Sands and Kingsbridge. More unclassified hills followed mid-stage, before a third sprint at Tavistock, 121.6 kilometres into the day.

The climbs of Rundlestone (6.8km at 4 percent) and Warren House Inn (4.6km at 2.4 per cent) lay after 132.3 and 147.8 kilometres, before two more unclassified hills lay inside the final 30 kilometres before the finish in Exeter.

Attacks flew from the start of the stage, including an attempt from KOM and sprint leader Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod), who successfully infiltrated the break of the day early in the day.

He was joined out front by Nícolas Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling), Leon Mazzone (Saint Piran), and the oldest man in the race – 42-year-old C5 para-cyclist William Bjergfelt (SwiftCarbon).

The quintet quickly built a gap of several minutes out front as Jumbo-Visma took to the front of the peloton to control the race for leader Wout van Aert. By the time the leaders hit the first climb of the day at Strete, they were 3:30 up the road, with Scott taking the maximum six points over the top to move to a seven-point lead at 15 points in the KOM green jersey rankings.

Back in the peloton, meanwhile, Qhubeka NextHash had taken up the pacemaking, shaving two minutes off the lead by the time the break hit the first of the day’s intermediate sprints after 60 kilometres. Carpenter beat Scott at both sprints as the gap went back up with Jumbo-Visma taking to the front of the peloton again.

The situation remained the same as the riders worked their way through the middle of the stage, with the Dutch squad allowing the gap to reach over 7:30 as the riders hit the final 70 kilometres. Carpenter, as the best-placed man in the break at 30 seconds down, was at that point in the virtual race lead by a wide margin.

The Philadelphian took his points total – and bonus-second total – to nine at the final intermediate sprint of the day with 62 kilometres to go, once again beating Scott, who would hang on to the red sprint jersey for another day.

Seven minutes further back, Movistar had joined Jumbo-Visma at the front of the peloton, slowly chipping away at the break’s advantage. Up front, the break split up on the Rundlestone climb, with Mazzone and Bjergfelt dropping away.

The remaining trio pushed on through the Dartmoor National Park as the peloton upped the pace and closed in to within six minutes, with a number of sprinters dropping back as a result. Scott took the points over the top to extend his KOM lead, and duly did the same on Warren House Hill as Alpecin-Fenix did the work 4:40 back.

Meanwhile, Bjergfelt had dropped back to the peloton at 37 kilometres to go after an impressive battling ride. Up front, Sessler was the next to drop after suffering a mechanical shortly after the climb.

The breakaway was a twosome with 30 kilometres to race, and six kilometres later, it was one versus one as Carpenter took off, seeking the stage victory as well as the near certainty of the leader’s jersey.

The two unclassified climbs on the run towards Exeter, plus Qhubeka NextHash giving their help at the front, proved little obstacle for Carpenter as he pushed on alone, taking a three-minute advantage into the final 10 kilometres.

With the hills behind him and a largely flat run to the line ahead, Carpenter still enjoyed a lead of 2:20 entering the final five kilometres. His advantage fell to less than a minute as he hit the final kilometre, and he kept pushing all the way to the line, allowing himself to celebrate as he crossed the line after a huge effort to secure victory.

Results :
1 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 4:45:56
2 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:33
3 Alex Peters (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
4 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
6 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB Sungod
7 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
8 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain
9 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
10 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
11 James Shaw (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
12 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
13 Michal Paluta (Pol) Global 6 Cycling
14 Matthew Gibson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
15 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team
16 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
17 Robert Doonaldson (GBr) Great Britain
18 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
19 Maximilian Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
20 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
21 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
22 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma
23 Thomas Gloag (GBr) Trinity Racing
24 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
25 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
26 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
27 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
28 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
29 Steve Lampier (GBr) Saint Piran
30 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
31 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
32 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
33 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
34 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
35 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
36 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
37 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
38 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
39 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation
40 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB Sungod
41 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
42 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
43 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
44 Oliver Stockwell (GBr) Great Britain
45 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling
46 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
47 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
48 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
49 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team
50 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
51 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy
52 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
53 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
54 Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
55 Ben Healy (Irl) Trinity Racing
56 Joey Rosskopf (USA) Rally Cycling
57 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:47
58 Max Walker (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:00:55
59 Christopher Blevins (USA) Trinity Racing
60 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:06
61 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling
62 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
63 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:22
64 James Mitri (NZl) Global 6 Cycling 0:01:30
65 Jacob Scott (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:06:04
66 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:09:31
67 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos
68 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
69 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:10:09
70 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
71 Hans Becking (Ned) Global 6 Cycling 0:11:52
72 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
73 William Bjergfelt (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
74 Nícolas Sessler (Bra) Global 6 Cycling
75 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma
76 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team 0:15:14
77 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:17:30
78 Ollie Peckover (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
79 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
80 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM
81 Andrew Turner (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
82 Ross Lamb (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
83 Simon Wilson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
84 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
85 Ross Holland (GBr) Saint Piran
86 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
87 Charles Page (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
88 Bradley Symonds (GBr) Saint Piran
89 Rhys Britton (GBr) Great Britain
90 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
91 Jokin Murguialday (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
92 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
93 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team DSM
94 Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Racing
95 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
96 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
97 Christopher Latham (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
98 Thomas Mein (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
99 Oliver Maxwell (GBr) Saint Piran
100 Tim Edvard Pettersen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:25:30
101 William Tiball (GBr) Great Britain 0:26:30
102 Max Rushby (GBr) Great Britain
103 Tom Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
DNF Rudy Porter (Aus) Trinity Racing
DNF Dan Erik Hansen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling
DNF Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma

General Classification after Stage 2 :
1 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling 9:19:33
2 Wout Van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:22
3 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:26
4 Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:28
5 Alex Peters (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
6 Rory Townsend (Irl) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:00:32
7 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
8 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
9 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
10 Mikkel Honoré (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
11 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
12 James Shaw (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
13 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
14 Robert Doonaldson (GBr) Great Britain
15 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
17 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
18 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
19 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers
20 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
21 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation
22 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Michal Paluta (Pol) Global 6 Cycling 0:00:44
24 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
25 Matthew Gibson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
26 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
27 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
28 Silvan Dillier (Swi) Alpecin-Fenix
29 Owain Doull (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
30 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
31 Gavin Mannion (USA) Rally Cycling
32 Ryan Christensen (NZl) Canyon DHB Sungod
33 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:55
34 Thomas Gloag (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:01:01
35 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:46
36 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
37 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
38 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:51
39 Joey Rosskopf (USA) Rally Cycling 0:01:53
40 Ethan Vernon (GBr) Great Britain 0:01:54
41 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
42 Maximilian Stedman (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
43 Steve Lampier (GBr) Saint Piran
44 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
45 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
46 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma
47 Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
48 Mason Hollyman (GBr) Israel Cycling Academy
49 Richie Porte (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
50 Carlos Barbero (Spa) Team Qhubeka Assos
51 Josu Etxeberria Azpilikueta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
52 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:55
53 Alex Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:00
54 Max Walker (GBr) Trinity Racing 0:02:12
55 Christopher Blevins (USA) Trinity Racing 0:02:16
56 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:02:43
57 James Mitri (NZl) Global 6 Cycling 0:02:51
58 Oliver Stockwell (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:45
59 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:03:59
60 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Movistar Team 0:04:21
61 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:08:02
62 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Israel Start-up Nation
63 Ben Healy (Irl) Trinity Racing 0:08:16
64 Kyle Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling 0:08:35
65 Sean Bennett (USA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:10:14
66 Jacob Scott (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:10:19
67 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:11:22
68 Hans Becking (Ned) Global 6 Cycling 0:13:13
69 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:14:09
70 André Greipel (Ger) Israel Start-up Nation 0:14:36
71 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team 0:15:25
72 Tony Martin (Ger) Jumbo-Visma 0:16:19
73 Nícolas Sessler (Bra) Global 6 Cycling 0:16:42
74 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:17:00
75 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
76 Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Team DSM 0:17:23
77 Thomas Mein (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod 0:17:41
78 Luke Lamperti (USA) Trinity Racing 0:17:48
79 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:18:08
80 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:18:48
81 Leon Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran 0:18:49
82 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:18:51
83 Ollie Peckover (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
84 Ross Lamb (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
85 Gruffudd Lewis (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
86 William Bjergfelt (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:19:21
87 Jokin Murguialday (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:20:10
88 Rhys Britton (GBr) Great Britain 0:21:18
89 Andrew Turner (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling 0:24:59
90 Simon Wilson (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
91 Ross Holland (GBr) Saint Piran
92 Daniel McLay (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
93 Bradley Symonds (GBr) Saint Piran
94 Matthew Bostock (GBr) Canyon DHB Sungod
95 Daniel Bigham (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling
96 Christopher Latham (GBr) Swiftcarbon Pro Cycling
97 Oliver Maxwell (GBr) Saint Piran
98 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team 0:25:13
99 Charles Page (GBr) Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling 0:29:47
100 William Tiball (GBr) Great Britain 0:33:59
101 Max Rushby (GBr) Great Britain
102 Tom Mazzone (GBr) Saint Piran
103 Tim Edvard Pettersen (Nor) Global 6 Cycling 0:35:55