Olav Kooij cantered to victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Britain with Jumbo-Visma team mate Wout Van Aert following him home in Manchester.
Featured image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Report
Large crowds lined the roads for the finish on Deansgate, with Irishman Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounding out the podium, a decade after his breakthrough win in Caerphilly, whilst German Max Kanter (Movistar) came 4th and Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon crossed the line in 5th.
The 163km stage set off from Altrincham, the route entirely within Greater Manchester. The Category 1 ascent of the Ramsbottom Rake with 70km remaining was the only major test for the pure sprinters, the 1km climb averaging over 10% and peaking at a gruelling 23%.
New Zealander James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) was the first rider to go clear after just 6km of racing, joined by British riders Harry Tanfield (TDT-Unibet), the Saint Piran pairing of Zeb Kyffin and Jack Rootkin-Gray, as well as Norwegian Fredrick Dversnes (Uno-X) only 4m later. It would be Tanfield who would claim maximum points at the only cottages.com Sprint of the day at Hazel Grove, joking with Fouché that he could have ‘the next one’ after catching the Kiwi by surprise. However, Fouché would go on to take maximum points at the 2nd Category Climb of Grains Bar.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 1: Altrincham to Manchester (163.6km) – Jack Rootkin-Gray of Team Saint Piran, Zeb Kyffin of Team Saint Piran, Harry Tanfield of Team TDT Unibet Cycling, Frederik Dversnes of Team Uno-X Pro Cycling, James Fouche of Team Bolton Equities Black Spoke. Image:
The breakaway held an advantage of only two minutes at the bottom of the Rake, an icon of the British hill climb calendar, the familar sight of Jumbo-Visma and INEOS-Grenadiers riders keeping the chase very much under control. It was Fouché who took maximum points at the summit, comfortably out sprinting Kyffin on the steep slopes toawrds the top, securing him the lead in the Pinarello King of the Mountains classification with a maximum 16 points, two ahead of Kyffin in second spot.
The short tether the peloton gave the break led to the race being run at a high pace, the tempo proving too much for Tanfield who was dropped from the break with 52km to go, Fouché, who will wear the Pinarello mountains jersey tomorrow, the next to sit up 4km later.
The remaining trio out front worked well together, the gap to the peloton steadily decreasing to 30 seconds with 10km to go. With 5km remaining and the gap sitting at only ten seconds, Kyffin attacked, taking Dversnes with him, Rootkin-Gray swallowed up by the charging peloton. Dvernses attacked himself with 3km to go, as Movistar took over on the front of the peloton, the Norwegian finally reeled in with 1.5km remaining.
Heading into the city centre the well oiled machine of Jumbo-Visma took over, stringing out the bunch into one long line, delivering Kooij to the finish perfectly with lead out man and overall favourite Wout van Aert sitting up to claim 2nd. Sam Bennett the only rider to look like he may have been able to challenge the dominance of the Dutch squad.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 1: Altrincham to Manchester (163.6km) – Olav Kooij of Team Jumbo Visma Celebrating his victory in Stage 1 of the 2023 Tour of Britain in Manchester with teammate Wout van Aert of Team Jumbo Visma. Image:
Kooij, the young Dutch sprinter, demonstrated why he is one of the sport’s hottest prospects, telling reporters after the finish line: “It was actually quite a hard day. We got it right into the last kilometre, and then [we were] first and second into the last corner. After that we had to go full gas to the line.
“I’m really happy to start the race with a win. We made a lot of plans for the lead-out throughout the year but it doesn’t come together that many times. To get it right after such a good job from the whole team makes the victory even nicer.”
With no time bonuses and a bunch finish possible on all eight stages, every position on the line mattered; Van Aert putting himself in pole position for the GC in 2nd, with Tom Pidcock 12th and the Uno-X pairing of Rasmus Tiller and Tobias Johannessen in 13th and 15th, respectively, of the big favourites.
Kooij, only 21, now leads not only the GC, but the cottages.com points classification and the Sportive Breaks Best Young Rider competition. With tomorrow’s 110km stage to Wrexham favouring the sprinters, all eyes will be on the Dutchman to see if he can repeat his performance.
2023 Tour of Britain – Stage 1: Altrincham to Manchester (163.6km) – James Fouche of Team Bolton Equities Black Spoke and Zeb Kyffin of Team Saint Piran sprinting for the Pinarello King of the Mountain. Image:
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All eyes were on Ethan Vernon of the British riders, the Soudal – Quick-Step sprinter racing for the national team this week. The world elimination race champion would finish 5th – like so many other sprinters, he, and his lead out, were unable to compete with a rampant Jumbo-Visma.
Saint Piran impressed again at UCI level, Zeb Kyffin and Jack Rootkin-Gray both displaying strong performances from the breakaway. Kyffin put himself in a good position in the Pinarello King of the Mountains classification, only two points from the lead. We can expect him to target that classification in the coming days through breakaways. As for Rootkin-Gray, linked with a move to EF-Education for 2024, his form this season has been such that it would be no surprise to see the 20-year-old (or Kyffin for that matter) threatening for a stage win later this week.
Harry Tanfield found the steep slopes of the Rake tough going, although did claim the opening sprint of the day. The Yorkshireman’s role is to help his teammates and hunt for stage wins from the breakaway, so expect to see Tanfield up the road again before the week is out.
Olav Kooij cantered to victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Britain with Jumbo-Visma team mate Wout Van Aert following him home in Manchester.
Featured image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Report
Large crowds lined the roads for the finish on Deansgate, with Irishman Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounding out the podium, a decade after his breakthrough win in Caerphilly, whilst German Max Kanter (Movistar) came 4th and Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon crossed the line in 5th.
The 163km stage set off from Altrincham, the route entirely within Greater Manchester. The Category 1 ascent of the Ramsbottom Rake with 70km remaining was the only major test for the pure sprinters, the 1km climb averaging over 10% and peaking at a gruelling 23%.
New Zealander James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) was the first rider to go clear after just 6km of racing, joined by British riders Harry Tanfield (TDT-Unibet), the Saint Piran pairing of Zeb Kyffin and Jack Rootkin-Gray, as well as Norwegian Fredrick Dversnes (Uno-X) only 4m later. It would be Tanfield who would claim maximum points at the only cottages.com Sprint of the day at Hazel Grove, joking with Fouché that he could have ‘the next one’ after catching the Kiwi by surprise. However, Fouché would go on to take maximum points at the 2nd Category Climb of Grains Bar.
The breakaway held an advantage of only two minutes at the bottom of the Rake, an icon of the British hill climb calendar, the familar sight of Jumbo-Visma and INEOS-Grenadiers riders keeping the chase very much under control. It was Fouché who took maximum points at the summit, comfortably out sprinting Kyffin on the steep slopes toawrds the top, securing him the lead in the Pinarello King of the Mountains classification with a maximum 16 points, two ahead of Kyffin in second spot.
The short tether the peloton gave the break led to the race being run at a high pace, the tempo proving too much for Tanfield who was dropped from the break with 52km to go, Fouché, who will wear the Pinarello mountains jersey tomorrow, the next to sit up 4km later.
The remaining trio out front worked well together, the gap to the peloton steadily decreasing to 30 seconds with 10km to go. With 5km remaining and the gap sitting at only ten seconds, Kyffin attacked, taking Dversnes with him, Rootkin-Gray swallowed up by the charging peloton. Dvernses attacked himself with 3km to go, as Movistar took over on the front of the peloton, the Norwegian finally reeled in with 1.5km remaining.
Heading into the city centre the well oiled machine of Jumbo-Visma took over, stringing out the bunch into one long line, delivering Kooij to the finish perfectly with lead out man and overall favourite Wout van Aert sitting up to claim 2nd. Sam Bennett the only rider to look like he may have been able to challenge the dominance of the Dutch squad.
Kooij, the young Dutch sprinter, demonstrated why he is one of the sport’s hottest prospects, telling reporters after the finish line: “It was actually quite a hard day. We got it right into the last kilometre, and then [we were] first and second into the last corner. After that we had to go full gas to the line.
“I’m really happy to start the race with a win. We made a lot of plans for the lead-out throughout the year but it doesn’t come together that many times. To get it right after such a good job from the whole team makes the victory even nicer.”
With no time bonuses and a bunch finish possible on all eight stages, every position on the line mattered; Van Aert putting himself in pole position for the GC in 2nd, with Tom Pidcock 12th and the Uno-X pairing of Rasmus Tiller and Tobias Johannessen in 13th and 15th, respectively, of the big favourites.
Kooij, only 21, now leads not only the GC, but the cottages.com points classification and the Sportive Breaks Best Young Rider competition. With tomorrow’s 110km stage to Wrexham favouring the sprinters, all eyes will be on the Dutchman to see if he can repeat his performance.
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