Tour of Britain 2014, Stage 1: Kittel wins, Cav third
7th September 2014
Stage
1 of the Tour of Britain 2014 took place in Liverpool, on a circuit
that took in the city centre and Sefton Park. The conditions were
perfect, with sunshine and little wind, and good crowds watched the
action.
Four riders broke away early on - Jonathan
Mould (NFTO), Mark McNally (An Post Chainreaction), Richard
Handley (Rapha Condor JLT), and Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani CSF). Their
lead was up to nearly 2 minutes at one point.
Colbrelli and Mould contested the three intermediate sprints, with Colbrelli winning all of them. McNally took maximum King of the Mountains points on both climbs.
With around 6km to go, Steve Cummings (BMC) tried to bridge across to the lead group, but he was unable to escape the peloton. The escapees, too, were swept up by the peloton with 3.5km left. Bradley Wiggins set the pace at the front for about a kilometre after the catch.
With 1km left, NetApp Endura were on the front, keeping the pace high for Sam Bennett.
Adam Blythe made a dash for the line, but it was too far away for him to hold first place. Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory, Ruffoni was second, and Mark Cavendish third.
The time bonus for the stage win means that Kittel is the first race leader.
This is a link to the results.