Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) won the opening stage of the 2014 Tour of Beijing on Friday, working his way through the bunch to take the sprint.
Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) led the sprint into the final few hundred metres, but faded slightly allowing Mezgec and second-placed Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge) to slip past on the line. Farrar settled for third.
Team Sky and Cannondale put in most of the work at the front of the peloton in the final 20 kilometres after catching escapee Jeremy Roy (FDJ) but were swamped in the finale and both squads failed to get a rider in the top 10.
The five-stage Tour of Beijing concludes on Tuesday, October 14.
Result
Tour of Beijing 2014, stage one: Cong Li to Zhangjiakou, 167km
1. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Giant-Shimano in 4-22-58
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2. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
3. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp
4. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida
5. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
6. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin
7. Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
8. Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Trek Factory Racing
9. Davide Appollonio (Ita) Ag2r
10. Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ all same time
Other
11. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
Overall classification after stage one
1. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Giant-Shimano in 4-22-48
2. Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge at 4 secs
3. Julian Kern (Ger) Ag2r at 5 secs
4. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 6 secs
5. Jeremy Roy (Fra) FDJ at 6 secs
6. Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Belisol at 8 secs
7. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing at 9 secs
8. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida at 10 secs
9. Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 10 secs
10. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Belkin at 10 secs
Other
15. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky at 10 secs
Team Sky chases on stage one of the 2014 Tour of Beijing
The peloton on stage one of the 2014 Tour of Beijing
(Image credit: Graham Watson)
Luka Mezgec wins stage one of the 2014 Tour of Beijing
(Image credit: Graham Watson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAnkEb9EUAQ
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
