Mark Cavendish won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain.
The tour started amid big crowds in Peebles with 95 riders but not David Millar who became a father on Friday, and attacks were underway from the start.
Russell Hampton (SGS) & Pieter Ghyllebert from the Sean Kelly Team were two that got away early on and it was Ghyllebert who took the first Yodel sprint of the day at Innerliethen.
They continued to get away, building up a lead of 5.45 before Hampton took the first two King Of The Mountains climbs.
Ghyllebert took the second sprint of the day at Moffat before there was a big crash which saw some of the HTC Highroad and Team Sky riders including Steve Cummings involved.
Jens Voigt abandoned the race as the rain came down. Ghyllebert completed his hat-trick of sprints as the gap for the front two dropped to 1.55 as the race turned towards today's finish at Dumfries.
The pair's carve up of the sprint and King Of The Mountains jerseys continued as Hampton took the final climb to ensure he will be wearing the Skoda King of the Mountains jersey at the start in Kendal whilst Pieter Ghyllebert (SKT) will wear the YODEL Sprints jersey tomorrow after taking all the available Sprint points today.
With 10kms to go, Hampton & Ghyllebert shook hands, and sat up to wait for the peloton. Preben Van Hecke (TSV) attacked on his own.
He was brought back by the peloton led by HTC Highroad who set up Mark Cavendish to take the win.
“It’s incredible to win the first stage and get the leaders jersey,”said stage winner Mark Cavendish after the race to the Tour of Britain press office.
“If the weather had been better we would have been a bit quicker but I think it would still have been the same result.
“Hopefully it will be a sprint again tomorrow,” continued the first ever wearer of the IG Markets Gold Jersey. “I am going to try and defend the jersey and try and get another stage win.
“We had wicked support today. The amount of cheers and banners along the stage was brilliant. Super encouraging. You wouldn’t expect this is Britain and it’s very different to when I last raced here in 2007. It’s very nice. This event is certainly growing.”
Results
1) Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC - Highroad) 4hrs 41mins 06
2) Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC - Highroad) st
3) Theo Bos (Ned, Rabobank) st
4) Barry Markus (Ned, Vacansoleil DCM) st
5) Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky Procycling) st
6) Robert Forster (Ger, UnitedHealthcare) st
7) Ben Swift (GB, Sky Procycling) st
8) Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) st
9) Roger Hammond (GB, Garmin Cervelo) st
10) Ian Wilkinson (GB, Endura Racing) st
Combativity Award: Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized)
Overall General Classification, after Stage One
1) Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC - Highroad) 4hrs 40mins 56
The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Classification, after Stage One
1) Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC - Highroad) 15pts
2) Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC - Highroad) 14pts
3) Theo Bos (Ned, Rabobank) 13pts
4) Barry Markus (Ned, Vacansoleil DCM) 12pts
5) Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky Procycling) 11pts
6) Robert Forster (Ger, UnitedHealthcare) 10pts
7) Ben Swift (GB, Sky Procycling) 09pts
8) Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 08pts
9) Roger Hammond (GB, Garmin Cervelo) 07pts
10) Ian Wilkinson (GB, Endura Racing) 06pts
Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage One
1) Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized) 12pts
2) Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel, AN Post) 9pts
3) Alex Ramussen (Den, HTC - Highroad) 2pts
= Alex Dowsett (GB, Team Sky) 2pts
= Steve Cummings (GB, Team Sky) 2pts
Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage One
1) Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel, AN Post) 15pts
2) Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized) 9pts
3) Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank) 3pts
= Mathew Hayman (Aus, Sky Procycling) 3pts
5) Peter Williams (GB, Motorpoint) 2pts
UNISON Best Young Rider, after Stage One
1) Barry Markus (Ned, Vacansoleil DCM)
Picture copyright of Tour Of Britain/ Larry Hickmott