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Stage 1 - 2010 Tour of Britain
September 11-18; UCI 2.1 | Home Page for News & Reports
Stage 1: Rochdale to Blackpool (82 miles, Sept 11)
Report: Eddie Allen
HTC Colombia rider Andre Greipel took the opening stage of the 2010 Tour of Britain in a bunch finish in Blackpool, in a stage which saw a three man breakaway stay away for most of the day over the wet and wild Rossendale Moors and Bowland Fells.
The inaugural stage of the 2010 Tour of Britain rolled out of a rainy Rochdale town centre on its way the Blackpool seafront 132.6km away. The route climbed out of Rochdale onto the Forest of Rossendale, after which it dropped into the Calder Valley, skirted Pendle Hill, crossed the Ribble Valley and headed across the Bowland Fells to the mighty Trough of Bowland and the day's major KOM climb. With the Forest of Bowland behind them, the riders then tackled the last segment of the race, across the flat coastal plain of the Fylde, before finishing on Blackpool's famous promenade.
There was action from early on to shake the cobwebs from the riders, with sprint number one just 2.1km from the start at Norden - Andre Greipel and Team Sky's Russell Downing taking the one-two.
The real first move of the day came from a trio of riders; Saxo Bank's Richie Porte, Endura's Jack Bauer and Vaconsoleil's Wout Poels. Matt Brammeier attempted to bridge across to the trio of escapees, but fell back into the clutches of the peloton, who were at that point around one minute in arrears of the leaders.
The riders hit the race's first KOM climb at Deerplay Moor by which point Porte, Bauer and Poels (above) had over four minutes on the peloton, with Poels taking maximum KOM points. At around 20 miles in, the breakaway riders were almost five minutes ahead of the pack and, no doubt sensing a dangerous move on the cards, Team Sky hit the front and drove the chase along as the race passed through Whalley.
The Sky-led peloton continued to press hard as the race entered the Bowland Fells, with Jack Bauer dropping away slightly from Porte and Poels as the second KOM and the stage's defining feature - the Trough of Bowland - loomed large. Once again Poels took maximum points at the summit.
At 54 miles the race took its first victim, with Johnny Bellis of Saxo Bank abandoning. The second sprint approached and it was Bellis' team mate Porte who took maximum points, with Poels claiming second. Jack Bauer took third in the sprint but shortly after began to fall back, eventually being caught by the hard-riding peloton.
With the race now on a downward trajectory towards the Wyre valley, the chase was orchestrated in earnest, with Team Sky, Skil Shimano and THR the main protagonists. The gap to the leading duo began to plummet and it looked as though the breakaway was doomed.
As the race entered the final 25km, Saxo Bank's Richie Porte pushed ahead alone, taking the third sprint at Stalmine. However, Porte's solo charge was soon to end, as the peloton finally caught the Australian rider with 15km to go. With the race now in the flatlands of the Fylde, it finally looked like a bunch sprint was on the cards for Blackpool.
With 5km to go Team Sky were still pushing hard, countering attacks by Rapha Condor and the ISD team. As the final kilometre approached Cervelo Test Team hit the front and made their move. However it was the HTC Colombia's Andre Greipel (who'd punctured 8km previously) who came through to take the win and the overall lead after stage one.
It was a wet start in Rochdale and through out the stage in the North West.
The attack that started the move that dominated the stage. Richie Porte leads Wout Poels with Jack Bauer making his move in the background to join the move.
Dan Craven of Rapha Condor Sharp has a dig early in the race as the rain falls out of the sky.
After the break had been away for a few miles, the bunch sit up and take a break before turning on the gas again to bring them back.
It's all over for Jack Bauer as he slips away on the Trough of Bowland as Richie Porte continues with the escape as the gap is reduced to 3 minutes.
The riders in the Sky led peloton cross the top of the Westfield Towers.
Post race interviews
Dan Craven (Rapah Condor Sharp): "It was as expected out there. It really started to hammer with rain after the start, I got wet through out but was never really miserable. Sky did a steady tempo all day chasing down the break and it was quite nervous out there. The expectations of the team have changed this year because everyone is a little bit stronger. I felt good out there but there is a big difference between feeling good and being good. Because today was so controlled, there was no chance to see if I was as good as I felt".
Andre Greipel: "It is always something special to win the first stage because you get the leader's jersey as well. This was our main goal to win the stage here and we reached it. The weather was not the best today, and one moment it was warm and then it was cold again but at the end the sun come out for the finish and yeah it was good. On keeping the yellow jersey, he explained "there are some good teams here so for sure they will want to drop me on the climbs."
"We helped to chase the break down today and it was hard work just being six guys. I also had a puncture with 8 kilometres to go and the team waited for me and we got back with 4k to go. I thought it was finished then but at the end, I had a good position, and Tony Martin and Mark Renshaw, they keep me in the front and lead me out."
Richie Porte: "I thoroughly enjoyed today's stage. If I want to ride for the classification, then that is the only way I can do it, to ride up the road and take some time. We all worked well together and to have a jersey for tomorrow is an honour."
Asked how the break came about, Richie says "it happened on the first climb and then the gap hovered around 25 seconds but then the teams were happy with the combination, and then we rode tempo. I don't think it has taken that much out of us. It was what the team wanted, to get some one in the break and I was just lucky enough it was me." It was, says Richie who is based in Monaco, the first time he has raced in the UK.
Zak Dempter, Rapha Condor: "I'm feeling pretty good, I think today was a fairly easy stage because Sky controlled it well, I was in about tenth from 30km to go and that's where you stay in that type of lead out. I think positioning is key and if I can put myself in a better position then I'm going well enough to achieve a much better result than that.
Tomorrow's going to be a completely different ‘bag of chips' if you like, and I think it's Darren, Kristian and Dan who will come to the forefront depending on how it's raced. If it's raced hard then those guys will be right up there."
Video: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta @ Tour of Britain
Tour of Britain 2010 Stage 1 Result (Full Results)
Rochdale to Blackpool 11 Sep 2010
1 Andre Greipel Team HTC-Columbia 3:16:48
2 Manuel Belletti Colnago-CSF Inox st
3 Greg Henderson Sky Pro Cycling Team st
4 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank st
5 Martin Reimer Cervelo Test Team st
6 Robert Wagner Skil-Shimano st
7 Gianlucia Brambilla Colnago-CSF Inox st
8 Edward Clancy Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta st
9 Russell Downing Sky Pro Cycling Team st
10 Michael Van Stayen Topsport Vlaanderen st
Stage 1 General Classification
1 Andre Greipel Team HTC-Columbia 3:16:36
2 Manuel Belletti Colnago-CSF Inox at 0:06
3 Greg Henderson Sky Pro Cycling Team at 0:08
4 Russell Downing Sky Pro Cycling Team st
5 Richie Porte Team Saxo Bank at 0:09
6 Martin Reimer Cervelo Test Team at 0:11
7 Wout Poels Vacansoleil Pro Cycling st
8 Alex Rasmussen Team Saxo Bank at 0:12
9 Robert Wagner Skil-Shimano st
10 Gianlucia Brambilla Colnago-CSF Inox st
Points
1 Andre Greipel Team HTC-Columbia
2 Manuel Belletti Colnago-CSF Inox
3 Greg Henderson Sky Pro Cycling Team
Mountains
1 Wout Poels Vacansoleil Pro Cycling
2 Richie Porte Team Saxo Bank
3 Jack Bauer Endura Racing
Sprints
1 Richie Porte Team Saxo Bank
2 Russell Downing Sky Pro Cycling Team
3 Wout Poels
