Tour of Denmark was initiated with a 157 kilometer long flat stage from Hobro to Mariager where a cobbled city circuit concluded the stage and a bunch sprint was expected in the small Danish town.

And a small group of riders stole the limelight in the first part of the stage but there was a shared agreement in the peloton to drag the escapees back and Tinkoff-Saxo were in the front of the field setting the pace.

But as the pack came together, a series of counter-attacks were launched from the field. Entering the final kilometer of the stage, the pace was picked up and in the wild bunch gallop; Magnus Cort (Cult Energy Vital Water) opened a long sprint. Despite all efforts, no one was able to catch him and he won the stage and took the overall lead of the race.

The Tinkoff-Saxo boys delivered a solid performance but with an unfortunate finale for Matti Breschel:

“We actually had a few challenges in the beginning of stage where Mørkøv had a puncture and Chris Juul was involved in a crash but as the break was established, things cooled down and we took responsibility of the pace in the pack. Chris Anker and Jesper Hansen delivered a very good job forming the engine of the field and reeled in the front group. Entering the finale, we wanted to keep our GC boys in front and the most important thing was not to lose time and Manuele, Chris Juul and Valgren finished with the best while Matti lost time because of a puncture in the final kilometers“, said DS, Lars Michaelsen to the Tinkoff-Saxo website.

The Danish road race champion, Michael Valgren was content after the first stage on home turf:

“It’s a spectacular feeling racing on home ground wearing the Danish national champion jersey and people seem to know my name now as I keep hearing the crowd cheering for me. It really motivates me and I hope to able to deliver a good result. The most important stage in the race is the stage to Vejle on Friday with the difficult city circuit but since I lived there for two years, I know the streets very well and I’m looking forward to it,” comments Michael Valgren.