Tour of Denmark 2021 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

August 10, 2021

Tour of Denmark 2021 – Stage 1 – Struer – Esbjerg : 175,3 km

The PostNord Danmark Rundt is Denmark’s flagship stage-race and an opportunity for the nation to showcase its wonderful homegrown talent. In fact, since its first edition back in 1985, this race has seen 13 Danish victories. Traditionally, the five-day race starts on the Jutland peninsula and ends on the island of Zealand, home to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Since 2004 the race has included a pivotal GC stage that heads up the steep Kiddesvej climb in the city centre of Vejle. It’s this hilly stage, combined with a time-trial on the penultimate day, that usually determines the overall winner. As a result, the race favours strong puncheurs that are also adept time trialists.

Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) won the opening stage of the Tour of Denmmark, beating Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Qhubeka-NextHash) to the line in Esbjerg.

The Dutchman, who returned from a nine-month ban this May, picked up his third win of the season after claiming two wins at the Tour de Wallonie.

Groenewegen’s Jumbo-Visma teammates took control on the last of three laps of a 3.5km finishing circuit, with Mike Teunissen leading him through the crucial sweeping right-hand bend and onto the narrow finishing straight.

Groenewegen then opened up and opened up daylight between himself and Cavendish, who’d positioned himself on his rival’s wheel after losing lead-out man Michael Morkov to a late puncture.

Cavendish was never able to get up alongside Groenewegen, and nor was Nizzolo able to overhaul Cavendish on the slightly uphill drag to the line.

Groenewegen pulls on the first leader’s jersey of the race, which will run for four more stages.

Such was the nature of the final bend and the speed of the front three, a two-second gap was recorded between them and the next 14 riders, with GC favourite Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) clocked in a group at nine seconds.

How it unfolded

The 175.3km opening stage was almost pan-flat, with the two mountains classification points barely more severe than a speed bump, but exposed to the elements on the west coast of Denmark. The wind, however, wasn’t strong enough to split the race, and it ended up being a straight forward bunch sprint stage.

A five-man breakaway went clear from the gun, featuring Rasmus Wallin (Demark national team), Norbert Banaszek (HRE Mazowske Serce Polski), Frederik Jensen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm) and the Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise duo of Ruben Apers and Aaron Van Poucke.

They built a lead of three minutes but were never allowed much rope as Jumbo-Visma, Deceuninck-QuickStep, and Qhubeka-NextHash controlled the peloton.

Banaszek claimed both intermediate sprints and the first mountains prize, with Jensen bagging the second, while Wallin attacked alone with 25km to try and earn the most active rider prize.

By that point, the peloton was just 20 seconds in arrears, and the remaining breakaway riders dropped back. Wallin continued out front until 15km to go, but was caught as Jumbo and QuickStep upped the tempo with the finishing circuit in sight.

Cavendish’s teammates, short of Morkov, took the reins for the first one and a half laps of the twisting 3.5km loop, with GC leader Remco Evenepoel staying up and out of trouble. After a couple of crashes further down the pack, Jumbo-Visma took control ahead of the final lap and produced what was a faultless lead-out from that point, with Edoardo Affini and Timo Roosen taking them into the final 500m before Teunissen provided Groenewegen with the perfect platform.

The Dutchman made no mistake from there, losing little of the gap he opened with his initial burst, and celebrating across the finish line.

Results :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 3:47:36
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
4 Arvid de Kleijn (Ned) Rally Cycling 0:00:02
5 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
7 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
8 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Louis Bendixen (Den) Denmark
11 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
12 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
13 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
15 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
16 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
17 Nicolai Brochner (Den) Team Coloquick
18 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
19 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
20 Nils Lau Broge (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
21 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
22 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
23 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
24 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
25 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
26 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
27 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
28 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
29 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
30 Mads Kristensen (Den) Team Coloquick
31 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
32 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
33 Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
34 Morten Hulgaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
35 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
36 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
37 Mathias Larsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
38 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
39 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:18
40 Magnus Bak Klaris (Den) Denmark 0:00:20
41 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:21
42 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
43 Pier Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling
44 Mads Rahbek (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
45 Rasmus Quaade (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
46 Jesper Hansen (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
47 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
48 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
49 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
50 Tim van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
51 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
52 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
53 Jeppe Aaskov Pallesen (Den) Team Coloquick
54 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
55 Tobias Kongstad (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
56 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
57 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Denmark
58 Adam Holm Jørgensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
59 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
60 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
61 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
62 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
63 Pawel Bernals (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
64 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
65 Jonas Castrique (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
66 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:30
67 Simon Bak (Den) Denmark 0:00:33
68 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:35
69 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:36
70 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:00:37
71 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
72 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
73 Kasper Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick
74 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:41
75 Sebastian Nielsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
76 Norbert Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
77 Anders Foldager (Den) Denmark 0:00:51
78 Daniel Stampe (Den) Denmark
79 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:52
80 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
81 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:00
82 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:01:02
83 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
84 Dorian De Maeght (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
85 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:08
86 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:12
87 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:15
88 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:19
89 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:01:24
90 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:29
91 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Qhubeka NextHash 0:01:40
92 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
93 Frederik Jensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
94 Julius Dalner (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
95 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
96 Jelle Declerck (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
97 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
98 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
99 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Christian Lindquist (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:01:43
101 Michael Gogl (Aut) Qhubeka NextHash
102 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:49
103 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:58
104 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
105 Markus Kramer (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
106 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:02:24
107 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:30
108 Nathan Vandepitte (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:02:41
109 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:03:27
110 Mihkel Räim (Est) Mazowsze Serce Polski
111 Tomas Trainini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
112 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
113 Rasmus Hestbek Lund (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
114 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
115 Alexander Salby (Den) Team Coloquick 0:04:06
116 Frederik Muff (Den) Team Coloquick 0:04:43
117 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
118 Tobias Andresen (Den) Team DSM
119 Mads Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick
120 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
121 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
122 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
123 Etienne van Empel (Ned) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
124 Robbe Ceurens (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Martin Toft Madsen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
127 Emil Toudal (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
128 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
129 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Denmark 0:07:15
130 Niklas Larsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:13:01
131 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling 0:00:02

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 3:47:26
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:04
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash 0:00:06
4 Arvid de Kleijn (Ned) Rally Cycling 0:00:12
5 Cees Bol (Ned) Team DSM
6 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
7 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
8 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
9 Jannik Steimle (Ger) Deceuninck-QuickStep
10 Louis Bendixen (Den) Denmark
11 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
12 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
13 Gerben Thijssen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
14 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
15 Colin Joyce (USA) Rally Cycling
16 Jordi Warlop (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
17 Nicolai Brochner (Den) Team Coloquick
18 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
19 Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
20 Nils Lau Broge (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
21 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
22 Nickolas Zukowsky (Can) Rally Cycling
23 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
24 Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
25 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
26 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team DSM
27 Morten Nørtoft (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
28 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
29 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
30 Mads Kristensen (Den) Team Coloquick
31 Nick van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
32 Casper Pedersen (Den) Team DSM
33 Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
34 Morten Hulgaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
35 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
36 Robin Carpenter (USA) Rally Cycling
37 Mathias Larsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
38 Antonio Puppio (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
39 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:18
40 Magnus Bak Klaris (Den) Denmark 0:00:20
41 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:21
42 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
43 Pier Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling
44 Mads Rahbek (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
45 Rasmus Quaade (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
46 Jesper Hansen (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
47 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
48 Adam De Vos (Can) Rally Cycling
49 Davide Orrico (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
50 Tim van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
51 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
52 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
53 Jeppe Aaskov Pallesen (Den) Team Coloquick
54 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
55 Tobias Kongstad (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
56 David Lozano Riba (Spa) Team Novo Nordisk
57 Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Den) Denmark
58 Adam Holm Jørgensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
59 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
60 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
61 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
62 Timo Roosen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
63 Pawel Bernals (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
64 Thimo Willems (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
65 Jonas Castrique (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
66 Laurenz Rex (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:00:30
67 Simon Bak (Den) Denmark 0:00:33
68 Jakub Kaczmarek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:35
69 Alan Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:00:36
70 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:00:37
71 Fabio Mazzucco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
72 Mattia Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
73 Kasper Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick
74 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:41
75 Sebastian Nielsen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
76 Norbert Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
77 Anders Foldager (Den) Denmark 0:00:51
78 Daniel Stampe (Den) Denmark
79 Ruben Apers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:00:52
80 Samuele Zoccarato (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
81 Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:00
82 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:01:02
83 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
84 Dorian De Maeght (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
85 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:08
86 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:12
87 Shane Archbold (NZl) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:01:15
88 Declan Irvine (Aus) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:19
89 Mirco Maestri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:01:24
90 Edoardo Affini (Ita) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:29
91 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Qhubeka NextHash 0:01:40
92 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
93 Frederik Jensen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
94 Julius Dalner (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
95 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
96 Jelle Declerck (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB
97 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Qhubeka NextHash
98 Adrian Banaszek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski
99 Umberto Poli (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk
100 Christian Lindquist (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras 0:01:43
101 Michael Gogl (Aut) Qhubeka NextHash
102 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:01:49
103 Sam Brand (GBr) Team Novo Nordisk 0:01:58
104 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
105 Markus Kramer (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
106 Simone Bevilacqua (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM 0:02:24
107 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:30
108 Nathan Vandepitte (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauzen WB 0:02:41
109 Adrian Kurek (Pol) Mazowsze Serce Polski 0:03:27
110 Mihkel Räim (Est) Mazowsze Serce Polski
111 Tomas Trainini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
112 Riccardo Stacchiotti (Ita) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
113 Rasmus Hestbek Lund (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
114 Harry Sweeny (Aus) Lotto Soudal
115 Alexander Salby (Den) Team Coloquick 0:04:06
116 Frederik Muff (Den) Team Coloquick 0:04:43
117 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM
118 Tobias Andresen (Den) Team DSM
119 Mads Andersen (Den) Team Coloquick
120 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Restaurant Suri Carl Ras
121 Andreas Stokbro (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
122 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Qhubeka NextHash
123 Etienne van Empel (Ned) Vini Zabu’ Brado KTM
124 Robbe Ceurens (Bel) Team Novo Nordisk
125 Péter Kusztor (Hun) Team Novo Nordisk
126 Martin Toft Madsen (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
127 Emil Toudal (Den) BHS-PL Beton Bornholm
128 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
129 Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Denmark 0:07:15
130 Niklas Larsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:13:01
131 Matteo Dal-Cin (Can) Rally Cycling 0:00:02