LONDON: Belgium’s Wout van Aert made light of a challenging finish to win the opening stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday.
The 180.8-kilometre stage took riders around the southwest English county of Cornwall, from Penzance to Bodmin, and it was Jumbo-Visma rider Van Aert who produced the strongest finish.
French world champion Julian Alaphilippe launched an expected attack with just over 500 metres to go but Van Aert overhauled him. The Belgian pipped Dutchman Nils Eekhoff and Spain’s Gonzalo Serrano while Alaphilippe had to settle for eighth spot.
A five-man breakaway comprising Joey Rosskopf, Oliver Stockwell, Max Walker, Jacob Scott and Nic Dlamini dominated the majority of the stage.
Rosskopf and Dlamini dropped away to leave a leading trio before they were also caught 25km from the finish line. “It was almost overwhelming seeing the amount of crowds at the side of the roads,” said Van Aert, 26, who won silver in the men’s road race at the Tokyo Olympics.
“We have been missing this in the last two years and it’s nice to see people outside again and especially in a crowd together. “It’s nice to see people are so crazy about cycling. It makes it more beautiful when we win.”
He added: “It was a tough stage. It was good for me to adapt to these kind of roads and to get used to them.” On Monday the riders face a 184-km stint in the neighbouring county of Devon, from Sherford to Exeter.
