Jasper Stuyven celebrated his 1000th day of racing in a special Castelli jersey by going on the attack inside the final hour of the Tour of Britain and lighting up the opening stage of the event, which the team is competing in as Fix ALL Quick-Step.
It was a fast opening day, punctuated by small climbs that were just the terrain the attackers needed to drop the sprinters and open a gap which in the end turned out to be decisive. The move that split the peloton came 40 kilometers from the finish, moments after the breakaway was caught. Several riders, including Stuyven, jumped away on Michealgate (400m, 9.8%) and built a gap of more than a minute on the chasers.
The leaders kept working together until the last time up that cobbled climb, where attacks started flying left and right, as many weren’t willing to arrive with this group. Eventually, Lewis Askey (NSN Cycling) took a solo win, while Jasper sprinted to fourth place, a result that makes him our best placed rider on the general classification after this first day.
“Tactics played a role on the last lap, especially as some of the team had two guys in the break. We who were alone tried to cover the moves, but one rider eventually got a gap on that uphill drag to the line. I gave it my best, but missed a bit to match the acceleration of the guys who went and rounded out the podium.”
“I would have loved to win on my 1000th race day, but at least I was in the mix and did my best. I’m happy, because I didn’t feel good in Plouay last week, so it’s nice to start the week like this, it was a way of racing I enjoyed a lot. We’ll see what I can do in the general classification in the coming days and if I can move up a few places, so we will keep trying”, Jasper explained after the stage that finished in Lincoln.
Photo credit: ©George Wood / Getty Images
