John Degenkolb won his first victory of 2014 today, by winning the opening stage of this year’s Tour Méditerranéen, by beating Sicilian Danilo Napolitano and Sonny Colbrelli in a sprint finish.
Today’s stage was a 196.3 kilometer route from Argelès-sur-Mer to Montagnac. And, a small breakaway group containing Juan Pablo Valencia, Vegard Stake Laengen, Pierre Gouault and Fernando Grijalba set-out almost immediately from the start – quickly gaining a 20 second gap over the peloton. Shortly thereafter, Julien Bérard
managed to bridge himself to the group – after spending the better part of 10 kilometers in pursuit.
From there, the group steadily built up a gap of eight minutes over the field.
Grijalba was successful in claiming both of the mountain sprints – followed by Valencia and Laengen.
With 85 kilometers remaining, the peloton reached the long and open section of the route. And, with prevailing crosswinds, the field subsequently splintered into two groups.
Meanwhile, the Giant-Shimano team continued to up the pace at the front – causing further breakup of the peloton.
With 30 kilometers remaining, the head of the peloton caught the remaining five escapees – forming a lead group of about 35 riders.
Interestingly, as the final lap approached, the Giant-Shimano team slowed it’s pace – allowing other teams such as Europcar and IAM Cycling to join the front.
Christophe Prémont was the first to attack going into the final lap – gaining a substantial lead over the chase.
In the final 10 kilometers, Degenkolb suffered a mechanical problem that temporarily caused his team to slow.
From there, IAM Cycling took up the chase, and together with BMC and Europcar, they managed to reel in Prémont in the final kilometer. At that point, teams began ushering their sprinters to the front for a sprint finish.
Stage 1 Results
GER 1 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT-SHIMANO) 5:34:01 ITA 2 NAPOLITANO, Danilo (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ITA 3 COLBRELLI, Sonny (BARDIANI CSF) ITA 4 BELLETTI, Manuel (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) FRA 5 GIRAUD, Benjamin (LA POMME MARSEILLE 13) FRA 6 GAUTIER, Cyril (EUROPCAR) ITA 7 SELVAGGI, Mirko (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ESP 8 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) BEL 9 PLANCKAERT, Baptiste (ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE) FRA 10 DELAPLACE, Anthony (BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT) FRA 11 CHAVANEL, Sylvain (IAM CYCLING) BLR 12 HUTAROVICH, Yauheni (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SWE 13 LUDVIGSSON, Tobias (GIANT-SHIMANO) FRA 14 BARBIER, Rudy (ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE) NOR 15 HUSHOVD, Thor (BMC RACING) FRA 16 MARTINEZ, Yannick (EUROPCAR) RUS 17 SILIN, Egor (KATUSHA) RUS 18 BRUTT, Pavel (KATUSHA) ITA 19 FELLINE, Fabio (TREK FACTORY RACING) FRA 20 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT-SHIMANO)
General Classification after Stage 1 GER 1 DEGENKOLB, John (GIANT-SHIMANO) 5:34:01 ITA 2 NAPOLITANO, Danilo (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ITA 3 COLBRELLI, Sonny (BARDIANI CSF) ITA 4 BELLETTI, Manuel (ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI) FRA 5 GIRAUD, Benjamin (LA POMME MARSEILLE 13) FRA 6 GAUTIER, Cyril (EUROPCAR) ITA 7 SELVAGGI, Mirko (WANTY – GROUPE GOBERT) ESP 8 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) BEL 9 PLANCKAERT, Baptiste (ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE) FRA 10 DELAPLACE, Anthony (BRETAGNE – SECHE ENVIRONNEMENT)
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