{"id":4444,"date":"2015-09-06T20:07:03","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T19:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/?p=4444"},"modified":"2015-09-12T16:45:25","modified_gmt":"2015-09-12T15:45:25","slug":"aviva-tour-of-britain-2015-stage-1-beaumaris-anglesey-to-wrexham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrismaher.co.uk\/?p=4444","title":{"rendered":"Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage 1 – Beaumaris, Anglesey to Wrexham"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elia Viviani wins opening stage of the Aviva Tour of Britain<\/h2>\n
Author: Chris Maher\/ Official Press Release, Pictures courtesy of: Chris Maher | Photography<\/pre>\n
September 06th-13th 2015<\/p>\n
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage\u00a01 - Beaumaris, Anglesey to Wrexham<\/pre>\n
#StartSheet\"ToB_Stage_Maps_2015_Stage_1_AW(1)-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0T <\/span>eam Sky’s versatile Italian sprinter Elia Viviani timed his late challenge perfectly to inch past big guns Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel to win a nail biting opening stage of the Aviva Tour of Britain in Wrexham.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Victory in Stage One puts Viviani into the race leader’s Aviva Yellow Jersey, with a four second lead, thanks to time bonuses, over Cavendish.<\/span><\/p>\n
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The win is Viviani’s second Aviva Tour of Britain stage win, and also the second occasion that he has won the opening stage of the race, having claimed victory at Drumlanrig Castle in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n
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On a twisting, technical finish in Wrexham town centre the Etixx Quick-Step team caught the day’s breakaway inside the final two kilometres, setting things up perfectly for Cavendish who started his sprint with some conviction at about 200-metres out. <\/span><\/p>\n
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The big danger at that stage seemed to be old rival Greipel who had tracked Cavendish and opened up his own attack to the right of the road as they swept around the final bend at pace about 100-metres from the finish.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Cavendish had quickly glanced over his right shoulder, saw Greipel’s familiar red shirt and anticipated the German’s attack but at that precise moment Viviani roared through on the blindside to win by scarcely and inch. The Italian rider wasn’t sure if he had won or not but Cavendish, a veteran of scores of close finishes, knew instantly that he had lost, thumping his handlebar in frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Viviani’s performance was Team Sky’s just reward for an outstanding team performance aimed specifically at giving the Italian a sporting shot against two of the great modern day speed merchants.<\/span><\/p>\n
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After a strong four man break went early in the day it was Sky who took control of the chase with Andy Fenn burying himself for the cause along with timely contributions from his teammates and Etixx Quick-Step and Lotto Soudal. <\/span><\/p>\n
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\"KOM:<\/a>
KOM: Kristian House – JLT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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(Kristian talks to the press after the race – Listen here<\/a>) CyclingShorts<\/p>\n
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\"Aviva<\/a>
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage 1 KOM: Kristian House – JLT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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“We worked well and although I couldn’t recall all of the climbs from our recce, I did remember the final one which is why I hit out when I did and took a long one,” says House who won the SKODA King of the Mountains jersey overall in 2012 is riding his tenth Aviva Tour of Britain.<\/p>\n
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“When the break went back up from a minute to 1-minute 24 with 10km to go for a minute we thought this might actually work \u2013 funnily enough we were going through a town called Hope at the time! In my head though it was always going to come back.<\/p>\n
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“This race has always been important to the domestic teams. Going back to my first start in 2005, it was more important to us than the bigger teams. That’s levelled out now \u2013 people look at it is preparation for the worlds. This is our worlds, this and the national championships; we can show on home turf what we’re capable of.”<\/p>\n
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\"Elia<\/a>
Elia Viviani – Team Sky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
“It was difficult to control the break but we worked all day for that finish,” said Viviani who is already a stage winner at the Giro and Eneco Tour this season. “Andy Fenn did some fantastic work, he was so strong today, I think he is in very good condition. Ben Swift also took some perfect decisions, deciding when we work, when to close the gap. <\/span><\/p>\n
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“With 100-metres to go I was thinking it was too late but Greipel came in between the middle of me and Cav. Then Cav went in the middle of the road I saw a little space on the left and I sprinted hard. It was very close. I didn’t know if I had won but when Cav shouted “oh no” that’s when I understood. The sprint is about seconds, you wait a second and you lose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
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Yellow Jersey holder Elia Viviani talks to the press after stage one of the Aviva ToB 2015 (Listen here<\/a>) CyclingShorts<\/p>\n
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Stage One | Beaumaris to Wrexham - 177.5 Kms<\/u><\/pre>\n
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1 \u00a0\u00a0 26 \u00a0 VIVIANI Elia SKY ITA B:10″ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 00″<\/p>\n
2 \u00a0\u00a0 11 \u00a0 CAVENDISH Mark EQS GBR B:06″ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
3 \u00a0\u00a0 71 \u00a0 GREIPEL Andr\u00e9 LTS GER B:04″ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
4 \u00a0\u00a0 194 DOULL Owain \u00a0 WGN GBR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
5 \u00a0\u00a0 104 LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose MOV ESP ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
6 \u00a0\u00a0 74 \u00a0 LIGTHART Pim LTS NED \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
7 \u00a0\u00a0 13 \u00a0 RENSHAW Mark EQS AUS \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
8 \u00a0\u00a0 83 \u00a0 FARRAR Tyler MTN USA \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
9 \u00a0\u00a0 2 \u00a0\u00a0 BETTIOL Alberto TCG ITA \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
10 \u00a0 122 BRIGGS Graham JLT GBR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
11 \u00a0 42 \u00a0 GERTS Floris BMC NED \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
12 \u00a0 25 \u00a0 POELS Wouter SKY NED \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
13 \u00a0 86 \u00a0 JANSE VAN RENSBURG ReinardtMTN RSA ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
14 \u00a0 23 \u00a0 KENNAUGH Peter SKY GBR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
15 \u00a0 136 VAN DER LIJKE Nick TLJ NED \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
16 \u00a0 21 \u00a0 SWIFT Ben \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SKY GBR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
17 \u00a0 81 \u00a0 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald MTN NOR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
18 \u00a0 175 OPIE Chris \u00a0\u00a0 ONE GBR \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
19 \u00a0 114 PERON Andrea \u00a0\u00a0 TNN ITA \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
20\u00a0\u00a0 36\u00a0\u00a0 VANGENECHTEN Jonas IAM BEL\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ‘ ‘<\/p>\n
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Aviva General Classification Jersey<\/pre>\n
\"Aviva_YellowJersey-Blog\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Elia Viviani, Team Sky.<\/p>\n
Skoda King of the Mountains Jersey<\/pre>\n
\"SKODA_KoMJersey-Blog\"<\/p>\n