Tuesday’s Stage 3 began with a downhill and fast start heading out of Cockermouth.
A six-man break formed quickly and built a four-minute gap by the first intermediate sprint and eventually extended their lead to over six and a half minutes. As they descended off Wilton Hill, three from the front attacked. The trio stayed away until the final three kilometers heading to Floors Castle in Kelos when a reduced peloton reeled them in. Team Novo Nordisk’s Charles Planet, Javier Megias and David Lozano were all in this group.
Unfortunately, Andrea Peron had a poorly timed flat tire on the final climb and missed the front group. Teammates Joonas Henttala and Kevin De Mesmaeker stayed with Peron in an attempt to bring the Italian sprinter back to the front for the finish, but they weren’t able to in time. Elia Viviani (Team Sky) went on to win the bunch sprint.
“I took lots of risk on the final climb because I knew Andrea unfortunately hadn’t made the group,” Planet said. “I felt good, but the race got extremely fast and crazy in the final two kilometers. It was tough to stay together with Javi and David. It’s too bad about Andrea because he was really motivated for today’s sprint.”
Elia Viviani (Team Sky) took the win ahead of Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar Team) and Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quick Step).
Team Novo Nordisk continues racing on Wednesday with Stage 4 of the Aviva Tour of Britain. The 135.2-km stage begins in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and features three categorized climbs and three intermediate sprints before a flat finish into Blyth.
29.03: La Route Adélie de VItré |
30.03: The Bueng Si Fai |
30.03: Gran Premio Miguel Indurain |
30.03: Volta Limburg Classic |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
31.03: Ronde van Vlaanderen |
29.03 - 01.04: Ster van Zuid Limburg |
01.04: Gran Premio del Perdono |
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01.04: Ronde de Mouscron |
Bjorn HOEBEN 44 years | today |
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Weldearegay ZERAY 36 years | today |
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