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Stage 2 - 2010 Tour of Britain
September 11-18; UCI 2.1 | Home Page for News & Reports
Stage 2: Stoke on Trent (100 miles, Sept 12) |
Report by Paul Rowlands of Rapha Condor Sharp | Interviews & Pics: Larry Hickmott
Yellow and Stage for Greg Henderson
Stage 2 of the Tour of Britain saw the bunch roll out from Burslem for a day on the Staffordshire Moorlands under much clearer skies than had greeted day one of the race. Early skirmishes cancelled each other out until a group of 18 riders escaped after 15km, before the first sprint and more importantly before the race turned towards the village of Milwich where the roads became narrower and organising a chase would be more difficult.
Included in that group of 18 was Dan Craven of Rapha Condor Sharp, for company he had, Canutti (COG) Porte (SAX) Albasini (THR) Bozic (VAC) Marycz (SAX) T.Meyer (GRM) Brambilla (COG) De Kort (SKS) Henderson (SKY) Golas (VAC) Thomas (SKY) Partridge (EDR) Martin (THR) Haussler (CTT) Meyer (GRM) Wiggins (SKY) and Sinkewitz (ISD)
Their gap quickly went out to to 45sec, provoking a chase from the main bunch in which AN Post and Sigma who had both missed the break were involved. Their efforts initially brought the gap down to less than 30 seconds, however that didn’t last long as the gap stretched out quickly to be measured in minutes rather than seconds as the leaders worked smoothly to forge an advantage
Slideshow of how the stage unfolded
Onto the hardest parts of the route over the moorlands and the gap grew steadily to around four and a half minutes as the bunch crested the second KOM at Edgetop. From there it was less than 10km to the climb of Gun Hill, last KOM of the day, but far from the final opportunity to split this group on the rolling run in to Stoke where the stage would finish. By now the lead of the break was well over 8 minutes and this group would undoubtedly decide the winner and the new yellow jersey.
Over Gun hill it was Richie Porte who set the race alight with an attack that split the lead group. Initially building a solo lead of 15s he was chased by Craven of Rapha Condor Sharp, accompanied by Wiggins of Sky, Hoogerland of Vacansoleil, Sinkewitz of ISD, Albasini of HTC and Meyer of Garmin. However with 45km to go, none of the break were willing to give up and eventually it all came back together.
First attack of the day goes to an An Post rider.
At 30km to go, the remaining 13 attackers were all together but now visibly tiring, it would be only a matter of time before the attacks would begin again and splits would come. The word from the team car as the race passed Meir Heath with 142km covered was that Dan was beginning to cramp, his job now would be to hang in there for the remaining 20km, no easy task given the calibre of the riders around him.
In the run in to the finish, Haussler and Golas, briefly established an advantage over their companions however, with three riders and the best sprinter in the group, team Sky assumed responsibility for bringing them back. Into the final kilometres of the stage and there were no further attacks, Sky had the manpower to control and after such a brutal stage, few had the energy to mount any serious challenge. So as the group entered the final (mainly uphill) kilometer of the race it was a pure test of strength that only ever looked like having one winner as Greg Henderson easily bested his breakaway companions to take the stage.
Post Race Reactions
After the race, British Cycling caught up with two riders who are finding their legs racing up a level or two.
Dan Craven “That as an awesome selection to be part of today. On Gun Hill, a group of eight got away in the break and it as a really select eight riders. We stayed away for a few kilometres and then were brought back by the guys in the break. Around about then, I started to cramp so I really had to sit on as much as possible which was a pity because on a run in like this, and although I am not a sprinter, this would have suited me.”
“It was great for the team that we had some one in a select group like that. There were only two riders from continental teams in there, British based teams. It gives me a lot of confidence a ride like that. In the final five kilometres coming in, I looked up and saw Columbia, Cervelo, Sky and it is not often I race against these guys.”
The moment when the break goes clear lead here by Richie Porte (Saxo Bank) and Dan Craven (Rapha Condor Sharp).
Rob Partridge: “It as pretty nice to be in a select group of guys like that. I never went out there with a plan today to spend all day out front but as soon as it started, I went with a few attacks and you could sense something was going to go today. I stayed near the front and got in it. I looked around me and saw the combination, I thought wow, this is going to go this.”
“It as a real hard day out there, real grippy. We had recced this stage and I knew what was coming up and that as probably a bad thing. At least I knew what to prepare for and when to dig deep. I think I had a bit of birthday cake in the feed bag today and yeah, it was good belated present for yesterday.”
“When the break split, I wasn’t too worried, because when we went over Gun Hill where it split, I could see Henderson and G (Geraint Thomas), and rode off them a bit. Then Henderson jumped across on his own, Brad dropped back to get him on, and the rest of us had to work pretty hard. I think that was the moment when I thought my form must be quite good if I can do that after a long day like that.”
With Richie Porte out front alone, the break starts to split on Gun Hill.
Richie Porte: An Aussie rider who spent some time off the front over the final climbs was Richie Porte who had been in the break of the day on stage one. “I broke away from the leaders today to go for the KoM. I knew I had to beat Jonny (Hoogerland) so I attacked early because I knew I wouldn’t beat him in the sprint.”
“I attacked at the bottom and was fortunate enough to have a bit of gap. Torsten Smidth, my director sportif who is fantastic for me, told me to go for the Sprint too so I had six kilometres solo. I have pretty good form so I had to make the most of it. The legs were fine after yesterday. It was a short stage, and it is good for me that I am recovering so well so may be tomorrow I’ll try something again.”
“Sky have a fantastic team to control it but that makes it easier for me and that’s good.” At the press conference following the stage, Team Sky preferred not to send their race leader, Greg Henderson, so we were unable to ask them how they would control the race but the rider who won the Combativity prize for the day, Jonny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil says his team are strong and will not settle for fifth place. The stage was, says Johnny, not what he expected.
“I spoke to Daniel Martin yesterday and he said, tomorrow is a heavy stage. I did want to take it easy until stage four or five which are the heavy stages of the Tour of Britain, so I was at the back of the peloton. Then I saw the group of 15 riders and then Topsport Vlaanderen tried to close the gap but it was not possible.”
“Then we turned off the big roads and on a little climb I tried to catch the big group and then take it easy so I could come home in the first group. I had to chase for 30 kilometres and I also tried to take the points for the Mountains because my teammate had the jersey. In the last 500 metres, it was very hard and difficult to get to the front. It had been a very hard stage.”
After An Post, SIgma Sport and Topsport Vlaanderen had brought the gap to the break down to 20 seconds, Johnny Hoogerland starts his attempt to go across to the break with Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor Sharp).
“I think here are around 10 riders within 30 seconds of each other so it will be between them and I think it will be difficult for Henderson to keep the jersey. He is good on the hills but we have some very hilly stages to come and we are not satisfied with our place on the GC. We will try to win the overall and we have a strong team, three in the first group, and the others in the peloton are also very strong so I think it will be pretty hard to Sky.”
“The parcours here is totally different to Belgium and France. I have never been to England, and the hills are like steep, little bit flat, steep, and a lot of corners. It is a beautiful landscape and okay with a small group but with the wind too, it was very difficult”.
“The course was constantly up and down and when 15 riders are riding full gas, it is not so easy to catch them.” Asked if Team Sky did most of the work, he said “Of course. They had Greg Henderson and so we expected them to do the work for Greg. In the last 10k, Haussler attacked with Golas and for us that was perfect because two from Sky killed themselves”.
Food, glorious food! Geraint Thomas and the riders investigate what food there is in their musettes.
British Cycling also spoke to some of the riders about stage 1:
Jack Bauer (Endura Racing) who was part of the big break of the day: “I had been told breaks always go on the first day so I put myself out there and was just waiting to see what would happen. The bunch let us have a lot of time, up to six minutes, but it became apparent they were bringing us back before the climb where I wasn’t feeling the best.”
On how Ritchie Porte had been talking to Jack and patting him on the back, Jack says “Richie was a talkative fellow and he had a lot to say. He actually predicted the day was over when we had three minutes. Unless we had ten minutes before the top of the climb, there was no way we were staying away on that run in to Blackpool. Having teams like Sky and Columbia, you know that you won’t be able to get away with brute force in a break. So, we were waiting to see what they wanted to do.”
“If a team like Sky gets on the front, it’s no problem for them to shut it down just like it is on the continent. On every climb, for one reason or another, I didn’t have the legs to go with the other two who were dualling it out for the KOM’s. They’d hit it at the bottom of the climb and keep it going to the top of the climb so I was getting dropped but they would let me catch up on the next descent.”
“As we got to the middle of the race, they weren’t sitting up for me anymore so I realised I was either going to have to bridge the gap on my own or wait. On the big climb, I was gone. I don’t know why. I had hoped to get up them a lot better.” On what it was like when he was caught by the bunch, Jack replied “It was fine. I felt great apart from on the hills so I slotted in.”
Dan Craven (right) and Richie Porte almost clash as they sprint for the KOM points.
Ed Clancy (Motorpoint Marshals Pasta): “The whole stage wasn’t that bad. I had been eyeing up that stage for a while ever since I had seen the stages announced for the Tour. That stage and the one in London. For me it was a case of getting over the hills okay and I did that, I was in a tunnel for the whole race and trying to save energy. I was trying to stay at the front and give myself some sliding room on the climbs. James Sampson looked after me well in the cross winds and hills and in the gallop I had Ian Bibby, Andy Tennant and Jonny McEvoy to help me move around and try and stay near the front.”
“In the crits, I have plenty of speed but I am just down on endurance compared to the top guys. I am also a lot down on race craft too. We haven’t really done any thing like this. That was the first sprint I have ever done like that. In Spain, I won one bunch sprint and was second in another, but it was so much slower and less control. We were the most organised team there.”
“You see how it’s done when Greipel punctures with 7k to go and his team comes racing down the side, punching its own hole in the air and that is the only way to do it if you want to be there everytime. Behind Sky and Columbia, it was just like bees going everywhere, just a big swarm of riders going left and right and everywhere. There was argy bargy and a lot of Italian swearing going on but it was alright.”
“If I take a step back, eighth is a good result and I just think had I been better placed, it could have been so much better. It gives me confidence but I just have a bit of regret I was a little higher up when we started sprinting because I went past four people in the last 300 metres. I am not staying I could have won it but been in the top five. It’s all good and I’ll get another chance if I get my ass over the hills.”
Russell Downing (Team Sky) “It was pretty wet! It was good though. I had that first intermediate sprint then the break was away and we controlled it. We thought the sprint would better suit Hendy so I led Hendy out, I was the last man, and he slightly got boxed when they jumped when he was the wrong side of the wheel so they got the jump on him. He did well to get third.”
Video: Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta @ Tour of Britain
Results
Stage 2 Result (Click here for Full Results)
1) Greg Henderson, Team Sky, 3:59:52
2) Michael Albasini, Team HTC - Columbia, @ same time
3) Heinrich Haussler, Cervelo Test Team, @ same time
4) Koen De Kort, Skil - Shimano, @ same time
5) Patrick Sinkewitz, ISD - Neri Giambenini, @ same time
Honda Combativity Award: Johnny Hoogerland, Vacansoleil Pro Cycling
General Classification (after two stages)
1) Greg Henderson, Team Sky, 7:16:23
2) Michael Albasini, Team HTC - Columbia, @ 0.14
3) Heinrich Haussler, Cervelo Test Team, @ same time
4) Richie Porte, Team Saxo Bank, @ same time
5) Koen De Kort, Skil - Shimano, @ same time
The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Jersey: Greg Henderson, Team Sky
The King of the Mountains Jersey: Richie Porte, Team Saxo Bank
The Sprints Jersey: Richie Porte, Team Saxo Bank.
