Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) won a chaotic bunch sprint to take the victory and overall race lead on the opening stage of the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men in Kelso on Tuesday.
A huge turn from Quick-Step's Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe ensured that the Frenchman was set up perfectly in the finishing straight in the heart of the town in the Scottish borders. Once Magnier launched his sprint, there would be no stopping him, and he took the win ahead of Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) and Robert Donaldson (Trinity Racing).
A runner up at the under-23 Paris-Roubaix in April, third place marked Donaldson's first podium finish in a professional race.
Quick-Step attempted to split up the peloton on the day’s final climb, the category two ascent to Dingleton, but neither Evenepoel or Alaphilippe were able to force a gap. Instead, the Belgian team were forced to rely on Magnier to clean up in Kelso and ensure that Quick-Step took the overall race lead going into the second stage.
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), an overall favourite for the race, finished fourth and goes into day two eight seconds off Magnier’s race lead.
Speaking post-race, Magnier praised the work of double Olympic champion Evenepoel and Alaphilippe in the final kilometres and thanked both riders for their efforts.
"I was in a perfect position," he said. "In the end I'm very happy to take the victory for the team today. It was really fast in the last 10 kilometres, in the end, it was really important to have a really good position before the last corner because it was then cobbles. I started my sprint before the cobbles to have the highest speed possible before entering them… I just tried to keep my speed going onto them."
Both Ineos Grenadiers and Quick-Step sent riders on the attack across the two final climbs of the day. Conor Swift was one of the main instigators for Ineos, but Evenepoel and Alaphilippe were alert to his every move.
"We tried to make the race hard already when it was still far to the finish," Magnier added as he reflected on the hectic battle between the two WorldTour teams. "It was just from accelerating a bit on the final climbs, but in the end I was a bit on the limit on the final one. There was still a big group at the top, so I just tried to survive and rest as much as possible before the sprint. It gives wings when such good riders [Evenepoel and Alaphilippe] work for you."
Stage two of the Tour of Britain Men takes place on Wednesday. The riders face 152 kilometres of hilly racing between Darlington and Redcar in north-east England.
How it happened
Starting and finishing in the town of Kelso within the Scottish borders, the riders faced 180 kilometres of racing across hilly terrain on stage one of the race. It featured five categorised climbs, with the final two being repeats of the earlier Scot’s View and Dingleton ascents.
As the race gradually headed back towards Kelso, a two man breakaway was still ahead containing Trinity Racing’s Callum Thornley and Julius Johansen (Sabgal-Anicolor). The two riders were holding a gap of just over a minute as they headed towards the penultimate climb of the day, Scot’s View.
Ineos Grenadiers and Soudal Quick-Step continued to fight for control on the front of the peloton as they headed to the climb behind them. Rowan Baker (Saint Piran) and Gianni Moscon (Soudal Quick-Step) appeared to touch wheels as the pace increased, with Baker hitting the ground.
The peloton began to split on the ascent, with Conor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) pulling a select group away from the front of the main field. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Remco Evenepoel both managed to bridge across to the move. Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) was also present. The flurry of attacks behind the leaders cut their advantage as the second ascent of the Dingleton climb approached.
Conor Swift was on the attack once more at the 30 kilometre mark, rapidly sweeping up Callum Thornley with only Johansen left at the head of the race. With 25 kilometres to go, a huge attack from Alaphilippe brought Johansen back into the peloton. Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) was the next man to go, but Evenepoel tracked the move and attempted to attack on the descent.
Approaching the last ten kilometres, it was Ineos Grenadiers that were back in control at the head of the thinned out peloton, but they were being pushed all the way by Quick-Step.
Coming into the final kilometre, Quick-Step had the edge through Alaphilippe and Evenepoel. A sterling leadout from the former ensured that Paul Magnier snatched the win in the bunch kick for the line.
Results
Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men 2024 Stage one: Kelso > Kelso (181.9 km)
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:11:45
2. Ethan Vernon (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech,
3. Robert Donaldson (Gbr) Trinity Racing,
4. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers,
5. Casper van Uden (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL,
6. Rory Townsend (Ire) Q36.5 Pro Cycling,
7. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious,
8. Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victorious,
9. Jake Stewart (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech,
10. Norman Vahtra (Est) Van Rysel-Roubaix, all at same time
General classification after stage one
1. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Quick-Step, in 4:11:35
2. Julius Johansen (Den) Sabgal-Anicolor, +1s
3. Ethan Vernon (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech, +4s
4. Robert Donaldson (Gbr) Trinity Racing, +6s
5. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, +8s
6. Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Moblity, +9s
7. Ben Turner (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers, at same time
8. Casper van Uden (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL, +10s
9. Rory Townsend (Ire) Q36.5 Pro Cycling,
10. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorous, at same time
