Matt Goss cruised to win the opening stage of the 2010 Tour of Denmark on Wednesday, giving HTC-Columbia yet another bunch sprint win.
Goss benefitted from the assistance of Mark Cavendish's lead-out king, Mark Renshaw, returning to top-level competition after being dismissed from the Tour de France for head-butting Garmin's Julian Dean during a sprint.
Belgian Michael Van Stayen (Topsport Vlaanderen) came home in second place, with Renshaw taking third on the crash-strewn and rain-lashed 175km stage in Holstebro.
On Monday, HTC-Columbia's German sprinter won stage two of the Tour of Poland - coupled with Cavendish's five stage wins at the Tour de France in July, the US-based team's status as the dominant force in bunch sprints does not look set to diminish any time soon.
The Tour of Denmark marked the professional debut of US sensation Taylor Phinney, who stepped up from the under-23 Trek LiveStrong development team to ride as stagiaire for RadioShack. Phinney's debut didn't go quite as smoothly as hoped, as he was caught up in a crash 5km from the line and headed a large second group home 29 seconds adrift of Goss.
Britain's Roger Hammond (Cervelo) crossed the line in 33rd place after assisting Cervelo sprinter Theo Bos, who finished sixth.
The six-stage UCI 2.HC-ranked Tour of Denmark concludes on Sunday, August 8.
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RESULTS
Tour of Denmark 2010, stage one: Holstebro, 175km
1. Matt Goss (Aus) HTC-Columbia in 4-04-21
2. Michael Van Stayen (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator
