Tour of Beijing: Tony Martin triumphs in new rainbow jersey, Millar second
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Tour of Beijing: Tony Martin triumphs in new rainbow jersey, Millar second

by Shane Stokes at 4:48 AM EST   comments
Categories: Pro Cycling
 
German HTC Highroad rider opens clear lead on stage one

Tony MartinWorld time trial champion Tony Martin has ‘christened’ his rainbow jersey in fine fashion by winning the opening stage of the Tour of Beijing. The German HTC Highroad rider scorched along the 11.3 kilometre distance between Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium and Water Cube, posting a time of 13 minutes 33 seconds and opening a clear lead in the general classification.

His effort was quicker than the early best of Alex Dowsett (Sky Procycling), which was good enough for third, and Garmin-Cervélo’s David Millar, who nabbed second.

Martin ended up 17 seconds quicker than the Scot, with Dowsett a further seven seconds back. Vuelt a España runner-up Chris Froome (Sky Procycling) was almost equal to the latter’s time, taking just two seconds more to cover the smoggy, spectator-deserted course, while his team-mate Steve Cummings carried over his good Tour of Britain form to net fifth.

“It is my first time ever in China and it is a big honour to win the first ever stage in the Tour of Beijing,” Martin said afterwards. “I decided a long time before (I won the world championship) to come here. I wanted to be one time in China. For me it is not about the victory, it’s about being here for this nice race.”

His dominant victory came despite being without his usual time trial machine. Like the other riders in the race, the German was required to use a modified road bike in the test. He said that this presented challenges to him and other riders.

“It is a different position and a different feeling. The time trial bike is also more stiff. But I was just trying to find a good way over a short distance,” he said.

The victory puts Martin in a strong position as regards the overall battle. While four more stages remain, the nature of the parcours suggests a strong team could control things between now and Sunday. He said that HTC Highroad will do what it can to ensure that happens.

“I have a lot of motivation for a good race and we will now try to defend the jersey. “I hope tomorrow is not too hard. I should be okay…I think it is more for the sprinters.”

His rivals will aim to foil this, though, and with Millar backed by a very solid Garmin-Cervélo team plus three Sky Procycling riders within 35 seconds of the jersey, there could be some good racing ahead.

Off early on, Dowsett led for much of the race until Millar and then Martin bumped him down the leaderboard near the end. He said that he was pleased with how things turned out, and that his team didn’t accept that the race could be decided by the prologue. “Coming third to Tony Martin and David Millar is a pretty good result and I can be proud of that,” he stated, also being happy to get the best young rider’s jersey.

“We will now sit down tonight and talk about it. We have three riders in the top five and obviously no other team has that. We will take it on and see what we can do.”

The other riders who remain in contention will do likewise. Martin has seized his opportunity to open a lead, but his rivals will seek to exploit any chances they get.

Third stage likely to be race's big battleground:

Looking forward, it seems likely that many of the stages could end in big sprints, thus favouring Martin’s chances. Tomorrow’s second stage covers 137 kilometres to Men Tou Gou. It’s mainly flat although it has a short, steep third category hill 14.5 kilometres from the finish, and a slightly uphill finish. Despite that, the race’s sprinters are expected to prevail.

Day three looks more promising for those who want to take the fight to Martin. Early on, the riders will scale the category two Dong Fang and the first category Gao Quin ascents; after 50 kilometres of flat roads, the riders will tackle the first category climbs of Xeizishi and Erpuliang. These are just 15 kilometres apart and will have a major effect, although with twelve mainly downhill kilometres to the finish, there could be some sort of regrouping.

At 189.5 kilometres, day four between Yan Qing Gui Chuan Square and Shunyi Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre is the longest of the race. It could suit a breakaway and includes one second category climb plus two third category ascents in the second half of the day, although with over 40 kilometres of flat or downhill roads, a bunch sprint appears the most likely outcome.

Ditto for the final stage from Tian An Men Square in central Beijing to Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium. This is pan flat and the bulk of its 118 kilometre distance includes 13 laps of an eight kilometre finishing circuit. Unless the time gaps are very tight, whomever is wearing the jersey starting the stage can feel confident about their chances.

 

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Tour of Beijing (WorldTour) Stage 1 Results: Birds Nest to Water Cube (11.3km)

  Click on the arrowsat the top of the column to sort the race results.
Country Result Name Team Time
ger GER 1 Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) 00:13:33
gbr GBR 2 David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:00:17
gbr GBR 3 Alex Dowsett (Team Sky) 00:00:24
gbr GBR 4 Christopher Froome (Team Sky) 00:00:26
gbr GBR 5 Steven Cummings (Team Sky) 00:00:35
ned NED 6 Lars Boom (Rabobank) 00:00:36
bel BEL 7 Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:00:39
esp ESP 8 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Rabobank) 00:00:41
fra FRA 9 Jean-christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:00:43
ita ITA 10 Dario Cataldo (Quick Step) s.t.
ukr UKR 11 Andriy Grivko (Astana) s.t.
ned NED 12 Niki Terpstra (Quick Step) 00:00:46
usa USA 13 John Murphy (BMC Racing) 00:00:47
irl IRL 14 Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:00:49
usa USA 15 Benjamin King (RadioShack) 00:00:50
esp ESP 16 Ruben Plaza Molina (Movistar) 00:00:51
can CAN 17 Michael Barry (Team Sky) 00:00:52
bel BEL 18 Bart De Clercq (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
por POR 19 Nelson Oliveira (RadioShack) s.t.
ned NED 20 Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:00:53
aus AUS 21 Adam Hansen (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
ned NED 22 Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
nzl NZL 23 Hayden Roulston (HTC-Highroad) 00:00:54
kaz KAZ 24 Andrey Mizurov (Astana) s.t.
aus AUS 25 Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
esp ESP 26 Jesús Lopez Herrada (Movistar) 00:00:55
slo SLO 27 Janez Brajkovic (RadioShack) s.t.
sui SUI 28 Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
bel BEL 29 Nick Nuyens (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
ger GER 30 Paul Martens (Rabobank) 00:00:56
ned NED 31 Dennis Van Winden (Rabobank) s.t.
aus AUS 32 Adam Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
fra FRA 33 Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:00:57
rus RUS 34 Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) s.t.
aus AUS 35 Cameron Wurf (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
ned NED 36 Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
ita ITA 37 Dario Cioni (Team Sky) 00:00:58
ita ITA 38 Daniel Oss (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
den DEN 39 Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
svk SVK 40 Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
por POR 41 Tiago Machado (RadioShack) 00:00:59
rus RUS 42 Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha) 00:01:00
svk SVK 43 Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
est EST 44 Tanel Kangert (Astana) s.t.
ita ITA 45 Adriano Malori (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:01
ita ITA 46 Davide Appollonio (Team Sky) s.t.
ita ITA 47 Giacomo Nizzolo (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
ned NED 48 Joost Posthuma (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:01:02
bel BEL 49 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:01:03
blr BLR 50 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (HTC-Highroad) 00:01:04
bel BEL 51 Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
esp ESP 52 Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:01:05
esp ESP 53 Ion Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
nor NOR 54 Alexander Kristoff (BMC Racing) s.t.
ita ITA 55 Matteo Trentin (Quick Step) 00:01:06
ger GER 56 Christian Knees (Team Sky) 00:01:07
esp ESP 57 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (RadioShack) 00:01:08
aus AUS 58 Luke Roberts (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
bel BEL 59 Kristof Vandewalle (Quick Step) s.t.
esp ESP 60 Angel Ruiz Madrazo (Movistar) s.t.
esp ESP 61 Benat Intxausti (Movistar) 00:01:09
ita ITA 62 Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM) s.t.
ned NED 63 Jos Van Emden (Rabobank) s.t.
irl IRL 64 Philip Deignan (RadioShack) s.t.
esp ESP 65 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar) s.t.
aus AUS 66 Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
esp ESP 67 Markel Irizar Aranburu (RadioShack) 00:01:10
aus AUS 68 Simon Clarke (Astana) s.t.
mda MDA 69 Alexandr Pliuschin (Katusha) 00:01:11
fra FRA 70 Biel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:13
ita ITA 71 Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:01:14
den DEN 72 Martin Mortensen (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:01:15
ita ITA 73 Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:16
kaz KAZ 74 Dmitriy Muravyev (RadioShack) s.t.
ita ITA 75 Davide Cimolai (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:01:17
ita ITA 76 Francesco Reda (Quick Step) s.t.
bel BEL 77 Iljo Keisse (Quick Step) 00:01:18
ned NED 78 Stef Clement (Rabobank) 00:01:19
bel BEL 79 Stijn Vandenbergh (Katusha) s.t.
esp ESP 80 Igor Anton Hernandez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
rus RUS 81 Egor Silin (Katusha) s.t.
ita ITA 82 Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) 00:01:20
aus AUS 83 Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
fra FRA 84 Amaël Moinard (BMC Racing) 00:01:22
den DEN 85 Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
usa USA 86 Caleb Fairly (HTC-Highroad) 00:01:23
aus AUS 87 David Tanner (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
esp ESP 88 Francisco Javier Iriarte Garro (Movistar) s.t.
ita ITA 89 Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:24
bel BEL 90 Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:01:25
esp ESP 91 Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:01:26
ger GER 92 Robert Wagner (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
esp ESP 93 Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) s.t.
ned NED 94 Tom Stamsnijder (LEOPARD - TREK) s.t.
ned NED 95 Wouter Mol (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:01:27
usa USA 96 Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing) s.t.
bel BEL 97 Maarten Neyens (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) 00:01:28
bel BEL 98 Jens Debusschere (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
rus RUS 99 Alexander Porsev (Katusha) s.t.
ita ITA 100 Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas-Cannondale) s.t.
fra FRA 101 Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:29
ita ITA 102 Tiziano Dall'antonia (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:01:30
esp ESP 103 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Movistar) 00:01:31
ned NED 104 Michel Kreder (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
CHN 105 Haijun Ma () 00:01:32
bel BEL 106 Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM) 00:01:34
den DEN 107 Jonas Aaen Jorgensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
bel BEL 108 Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing) 00:01:35
kaz KAZ 109 Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) 00:01:36
ita ITA 110 Alfredo Balloni (Lampre-ISD) s.t.
sui SUI 111 Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing) 00:01:39
esp ESP 112 Alan Lezaun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
ita ITA 113 Manuele Mori (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:40
ita ITA 114 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:41
CHN 115 Meiyin Wang (Hengxiang Cycling Team) 00:01:43
gbr GBR 116 Jeremy Hunt (Team Sky) s.t.
ita ITA 117 Daniele Pietropolli (Lampre-ISD) 00:01:44
fra FRA 118 Julien Berard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:46
arg ARG 119 Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
fra FRA 120 Mickael Cherel (Ag2r-La Mondiale) 00:01:47
usa USA 121 Chris Butler (BMC Racing) 00:01:48
fra FRA 122 Sébastien Hinault (Ag2r-La Mondiale) s.t.
kaz KAZ 123 Valentin Iglinskiy (Astana) 00:01:50
esp ESP 124 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t.
CHN 125 Ben Ma (Holy Brother Cycling Team) 00:01:51
den DEN 126 Anders Lund (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:01:52
esp ESP 127 Enrique Sanz Unzue (Movistar) 00:01:54
kaz KAZ 128 Sergey Renev (Astana) s.t.
bel BEL 129 Kenny Dehaes (Omega Pharma-Lotto ) s.t.
usa USA 130 Chad Beyer (BMC Racing) s.t.
ita ITA 131 Marco Bandiera (Quick Step) 00:01:55
CHN 132 Kun Jiang (Max Success Sports) s.t.
esp ESP 133 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:01:57
esp ESP 134 Mikel Landa Meana (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 00:01:59
rus RUS 135 Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) s.t.
usa USA 136 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervelo) 00:02:03
arg ARG 137 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank-Sungard) s.t.
ita ITA 138 Francesco Chicchi (Quick Step) 00:02:05
den DEN 139 Martin Pedersen (LEOPARD - TREK) 00:02:07
ned NED 140 Theo Bos (Rabobank) 00:02:08
ita ITA 141 Matteo Bono (Lampre-ISD) 00:02:09
CHN 142 Xitao Ji (Gammax) 00:02:10
rus RUS 143 Nikolay Trusov (Katusha) s.t.
svk SVK 144 Juraj Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) 00:02:13
CHN 145 Fengnian Wang () 00:02:27
CHN 146 Yiming Zhao (Holy Brother Cycling Team) 00:02:36
CHN 147 Ruisong Zhang (Max Success Sports) 00:03:01

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