Getting the better of race leader Mark Cavendish and his HTC Highroad team, the Rabobank duo Lars Boom and Michael Matthews seized first and second place on today’s stage of the Tour of Britain. The success saw Boom take over the yellow jersey of race leadership, with Cavendish fifth across the line in Stoke on Trent and thus losing out on the time bonuses.
Sky Procycling duo Geraint Thomas and Stephen Cummings were third and fourth, with the former moving to third overall, six seconds behind Boom.
The new race leader is now three seconds clear of Cavendish, who dropped to second overall. Boom said that things worked out perfectly on the technical run-in to the line, with their slightly early move surprising the others. “With 200 metres to go I managed to jump over (Steve) Cummings and (Geraint) Thomas and then the corners started, so they couldn't pass us anymore,” he said. “My first aim was to pull for Michael (Matthews) and then I felt good so I am happy to win.
“We knew that you can't bring HTC and Cavendish or the Sky boys to the finish. We knew we would have to surprise them, and we managed to do that.”
Matthews may have been Plan A when it came to a sprint finish, but he didn’t show any disappointment that his team-mate was first to the line rather than he. “It worked out really well for the team,” he said. “It is going to be really hard to defend the race lead, but it is what every team wants. It is a privilege to have the jersey in the team and we will be happy to work for it and see if we can keep hold of it until the end of the week.
“We worked hard today, but having the jersey made it worth it.”
The day was a decisive one, with high speeds and strong winds prompting a big split in the bunch. Three riders - Andrew Fenn (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport Specialized) and Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) – got clear early on and opened a solid lead. They were later joined by 24 others, including Cavendish and Boom, and battled on to the finish.
There Boom seized yellow, Cavendish had to make do with green and Hampton took the mountains jersey for his stage-long efforts. The latter hopes to hang on to the lead in that classification in the days ahead, and said that his Sigma Sport Specialized squad would have to come up with an agreed plan.
"We will have to talk tonight. We have looked at the stages on our training camp a few weeks ago,” he said. “I know some of the climbs from the Junior Tour of Wales, so it brings back some memories. We will try and be aggressive and see what comes of it.”
His grip of the jersey is thanks to his efforts today, and also his break with Pieter Ghyllebert on day one. The latter missed the big break today but picked up a handful of points early on and is now four points clear of Hampton.
Early break precedes significant split in peloton:
Today’s stage started just after 10.30 in Trentham Gardens, Stoke on Trent, and was marked by an early attack by seven riders.
Ian Bibby (Motorpoint), Simon Richardson (Sigma Sport Specialized), James Sparling (Team Raleigh), Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Kristian House (Rapha Condor Sharp), Richard Handley (Team Raleigh) and Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) were present and pulled together to try to stay clear.
They built a lead of fourteen seconds but were caught soon after. The next attack was a more successful one, with Andrew Fenn (An Post Grant Thornton M. Donnelly Sean Kelly), Russell Hampton (Sigma Sport Specialized) and Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) joining forces to build a good lead.
The trio had an advantage of two and a half minutes when they reached the Yodel Sprint in Stone (km 22.4), where Fenn led Van Poppel and Hampton across the line. Ghyllebert was first of the bunch there, making the effort to retain his sprinter’s jersey.
The gap grew to three minute and six seconds going into East Staffordshire, but dropped by six seconds by the time the leaders reached the 40 kilometre point. Soon afterwards they tackled the second Yodel sprint in Uttoxeter (km 44.9), where Van Poppel beat Fenn and Hampton. Ghyllebert was again best of the rest.
The next sprint was for the first Skoda King of the Mountains of the day, the category two climb of Ramshorn (km 63.2) where Hampton took top points ahead of Fenn and Van Poppel. The peloton was three and a half minutes back at this point, but their deficit dropped to just two minutes soon after the day’s feed zone (km 72). Team Sky ramped up the speed there, being keen to bring things back.
This acceleration coupled with strong sidewinds split the bunch, breaking it into several pieces. The leading chasers included race leader Mark Cavendish plus several of his HTC Highroad team-mates, and these were one minute 35 behind the break at this point.
Boom was also present and said afterwards that knew what to anticipate. “I know that it is always tricky with the wind when you are in England,” he explained. “I saw the Sky guys move up to the front and there was point that there was a lot of wind. It was a good point to go and we managed to get away.”
The gap between the break and this group continued to drop and the pressure of trying to stay clear plus the difficulty of Gunn Hill, the break started distancing Fenn. The gap at this point was less than 20 seconds and it looked inevitable that Van Poppel and Hampton would be caught. Rapha Condor rider John Tiernan Locke jumped away from the chase group and overtook the leaders, nabbing first at the top of the climb (km 86.3) ahead of Hampton and Van Poppel.
The leaders were caught soon afterwards, making it a 28 man front group. This move included race leader Cavendish, Lars Bak and Bernhard Eisel (all HTC Highroad), Iker Camano (Endura Racing), Linus Gerdemann, Dominick Klemme and Joost Posthuma (Leopard Trek), Hampton, Jelle Wallays (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator), Lars Boom, Michael Matthews, Bram Tankink (Rabobank), Bertjan Lindeman (Vacansoleil DCM), Daniel Lloyd (Garmin-Transitions), Geraint Thomas, Alex Dowsett, Matt Hayman, Steve Cummings, Michael Rogers and Ben Swift (Sky Procycling), Jon Tiernan-Locke and Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp), Fenn, Benedetti and Leopold Konig (Team NetApp), Ian Bibby (Motorpoint), Rory Sutherland and Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare).
Thomas was first in the sprint into Leek (km 94.1), edging out Boom, Dowsett and Eisel. Tiernan Locke then lead over the category two climb of Commonside (km 112.7), beating mountains leader Hampton and Cummings.
Approximately ten kilometres later, just over 15 kilometres from the finish, Dowsett attacked hard; by the ten kilometre to go banner he had opened a 20 second advantage over the HTC-Highroad-led chase. He gave everything to try to stay clear but the gap had dropped to twelve seconds four kilometres from the line. The chase group reeled him in shortly after that, and the riders scrapped it out for the victory.
HTC tried to set Cavendish for another win but instead it was Rabobank who got things just right. Boom scooped the stage ahead of world under 23 champion Matthews, with Cavendish only fifth. The resulting time bonuses saw Boom seize the leader’s jersey from the Briton, who ended the day three seconds back.
“It is nice to win,” said the Dutchman after the presentation. “It's nice to win before the World Championships. I am to try and defend the jersey and win the overall…that is the goal now."
Cavendish had the consolation of the points jersey, the Manxman holding a two point lead over Thomas this evening. Hampton is now well clear in the mountains classification, his 32 points exactly double the total of closest rival Tiernan Locke. Rabobank is best team.
Tomorrow’s 183.7 kilometre stage looks set to be a decisive one, with the riders tackling the first category climbs of Brecon Beacons and Caerphilly mountain before a rapid five kilometre descent to the finish.