Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) won stage 1 of the Tour of Britain in Kelso, in the Scottish Borders south of Edinburgh, dominating the sprint on the cobbled finish.
Ineos Grenadiers tried to control the peloton in the final ten kilometres but then Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe took over on the front for Soudal-QuickStep on the twisting country roads.
They were swamped, as Israel-Premier Tech and Bahrain Victorious also joined the fight for the front, but then Alaphilippe upped the speed again and Magnier emerged up front for the final sweeping turn and sprinted to victory.
Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) was second and Robert Donaldson (Trinity Racing) was third in the sprint finish.
Thanks to winning the stage, Magnier also took the race lead.
Stage 2 is over 152.1km from Darlington to Redcar in the north-east of England.
It was Magnier’s third professional win of his debut season at WorldTour level. He was recently second in the Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France.
“It's incredible, we did a really amazing team performance,” the 20-year-old Frenchman said.
“Remco and Julian tried to go on the climb but it was really hard to get away, so then they worked for me for the sprint. They did it very well. I was in perfect position and I'm really happy to take the victory for the team.
“It was really important to have a good position before the last corner because then it was cobbles. I start my sprint before the cobbles to have as high speed as possible and then I just try to keep the speed.
“I'm in really good shape, and I hope it will continue during this race. Tomorrow will be really hard. I will try to focus on the last three stages, and I will try to help and survive as long as possible.”
The attacks began immediately when the flag dropped to start the 181.9km stage.
Thornley Callum (Trinity Racing) and Julius Johansen (Sabgal-Anicolor) soon got a gap and they were joined by Ormiston Callum (Global 6 United). The trio were allowed to open a three-minute lead, but Soudal-QuickStep soon took over at the front of the peloton to keep them under control.
The breakaways shared the four mountain sprints and intermediate sprints on the loops around Kelso. Orniston was eventually dropped with 76 km to go.
The peloton also split on the Scott's View climb, with 35k to race. New British gravel national champion Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) was aggressive, with other riders joining him in a fast final hour of racing.
Alaphilippe made an attack with 26 km to go, then Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) going on the next climb, only for Evenepoel to chase him.
Pidcock kicked away to score two seconds at the Melrose sprint soon after, and a select group formed. Other riders came back to the peloton as Ineos controlled things. The fight for the final turn over the bridge to Kleso began with five kilometres to go with riders banging shoulders and fighting for wheels.
Alaphilippe secured the front spot over the bridge, while Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) lost position and hope of a result.
Jake Stewart was there to lead out Vernon but Magnier jumped first and won the sprint from the front.
Results
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