Marcel Kittel takes opening Tour of Britain stage win in Liverpool
Mark Cavendish involved in crash during Tour of Britain opener; Marcel Kittel takes race lead
Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) won the first stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday.
As expected, the circuit around Liverpool culminated in a bunch sprint and, as also expected, Kittel and Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) were two of the main players. The pair’s supremacy was however disrupted somewhat by Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-SCF), who finished in-between them in second, forcing Cavendish to settle for third.
Britain’s Adam Blythe (NTFO Pro Cycling) also threatened the status quo as he opened his sprint very early, with a vicious acceleration saw him jump several bike lengths clear from the rest of the riders with around 300 metres to go.
But Kittel did not panic and waited a few moments to open his sprint, and managed to catch Blythe’s wheel, use his slipstream and eventually jump past him to edge out Ruffoni for the win.
Cavendish waited even longer than Kittel to start his sprint, and was unable to make any inroads on the German.
Both Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-QuickStep team and Kittel’s Giant-Shimano did surprisingly little work in the finale, as NettApp-Endura instead took responsibility for leading out the sprint. But their efforts were ultimately in vain, as they failed to place anyone in the top ten.
Ben Swift (Sky) also put in a decent sprint to finish fifth, while Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) was fourth.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
A crash occurred further back in the peloton on the finishing straight, but the big names – including Bradley Wiggins (Sky) – all managed to avoid it. Cavendish, however, was involved in an earlier crash as he hit a team car and suffered an injury to one of his legs.
Four men made up the break of the day - Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF), Mark McNally (AN Post Chain) and Jon Mould (NFTO Pro Cycling) and Richard Handley (Rapha Condor-JLT).
It was a good break to get in, for plenty of prizes were up for grabs. McNally takes the lead in the mountains classification having claimed maximum points of all three of the day’s climbs, while Colbrelli won all three intermediate sprints to claim the Yodel Direct Sprints Jersey.
The time bonuses acquired in these sprints also means that Colbrelli lies second in the overall classification, one second behind Kittel.
The break even came close to surviving, and were only caught with 3.5 kilometres to go. Unusually it was Wiggins who led the bunch as the catch was made, perhaps making a statement of intent to control the race, or perhaps simply ensuring that he avoided any potential crashes.
Steve Cummings (BMC) had a few kilometres earlier attacked the bunch in an attempted to catch up with the leaders, but only managed a few minutes in between both groups before being caught.
Results
Tour of Britain 2014, stage one: Liverpool to Liverpool, 104.8km
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Giant-Shimano in 2-16-35
2. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani
3. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
4. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp
5. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky
6. Barry Markus (Ned) Belkin
7. Dan McLay (GBr) Great Britain
8. Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling
9. Nikolai Trusov (Rus) Tinkoff-Saxo
10. Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar all same time
Overall classification after stage one
1. Marcel Kittel (Ger) Giant-Shimano in 2-16-25
2. Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani at 1 sec
3. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani at 4 secs
4. Jonathan Mould (GBr) NFTO at 4 secs
5. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 6 secs
6. Richard Handley (GBr) Rapha Condor Sharp at 7 secs
7. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp at 10 secs
8. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky at 10 secs
9. Barry Markus (Ned) Belkin at 10 secs
10. Dan McLay (GBr) Great Britain at 10 secs
Pre-Tour of Britain form better than 2013, says Bradley Wiggins
The Sky rider is aiming to become the first person to defend the title in the modern incarnation of the
Marcel Kittel: No pressure on me at the Tour of Britain
German sprinter says that he is relaxed having achieved his season's big goals.
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Stephen Puddicombe is a freelance journalist for Cycling Weekly, who regularly contributes to our World Tour racing coverage with race reports, news stories, interviews and features. Outside of cycling, he also enjoys writing about film and TV - but you won't find much of that content embedded into his CW articles.
-
Tom Pidcock 'deselected' from Ineos Grenadiers squad for Il Lombardia
British rider says 'I guess off season starts early' in Instagram post
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Our relationship survived 800 km on 10 minutes of sleep — less hardy pairings would have quit
Hallucinations, crashes, and no sleep: Ultraracing couple share the secrets that keep them racing together
By Rob Kemp Published
-
Mark Cavendish to conclude professional cycling career in Singapore
Tour de France stage win record holder to bring curtain down on racing career at ASO end of season criteriums in Asia
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Mark Cavendish set to end his career at Tour de France Singapore Criterium
Event will be Cavendish's final appearance for Astana Qazaqstan after he won a record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage in July
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'I've lived everyone’s dream': Mark Cavendish hints at snap retirement after last ever Tour de France stage
The Manx Missile is the 2024 Tour's lanterne rouge
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
'I'm so tired': Emotional Mark Cavendish thanks teammates after surviving Tour de France time cut
The Briton is just two days away from finishing the Tour de France for an eighth time
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
Mark Cavendish makes time limit on stage 19 - and four other tales of riders who survived the Tour de France cut-off
Brit finishes with more than five minutes to spare on Isola 2000
By Tom Davidson Published
-
End of an era: Witnessing Mark Cavendish's last ever Tour de France sprint
The Astana Qazaqstan rider finished 17th in Nîmes in what is almost definitely his last ever sprint at the Tour. Cycling Weekly was there to see it
By Adam Becket Published