2024 Santos Tour Down Under (World Tour), Australia

24th edition: January 12 - January 21, 2024

Men's Stage 1, January 16

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Tuesday, January 16: Stage 1, Tanunda - Tanunda, 144 km

Stage 1 course map & profile | Stage 1 photos

Sam Welsford takes the first stage. TDU photo

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Weather at the start/finish city of Tanunda at 11:45 AM, local time: 34C (94F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the west at 21 km/hr (13 mph). There is a 20% chance of rain, declining to 6% at 3:00 PM.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage one summary.

Australia’s Sam Welsford claimed the biggest win of his UCI WorldTour career at Tanunda on Tuesday.

Welsford won the Tanunda to Tanunda Stage 1 after an emphatic sprint, beating last year’s Tanunda stage winner Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Intermarche-Wanty’s Eritrean star Biniam Girway.

Welsford’s victory saw the WA-born road and track star wear the sought-after Santos ochre leader's jersey for the first time after a brilliant debut for his new team Bora Hansgrohe.

“It was a bloody hard day out there in the heat as well,” Welsford said at the Tanunda finish line. I got a good position on the downhill and there were also some pretty scary crashes and we were lucky enough to stay safe for the final.

“We knew there was a bit of a headwind, and we didn’t want to be on the front too early. Coming into the sprint we were in the wind a little bit but once you get the red line line finish you just put your head down and give it all you’ve got.”     

The peloton saw an incredible 74 riders make their Santos Tour Down WorldTour debut of the 139 that started in Tanunda.

Australian national team’s Jackson Medway was the youngest debutant at 19 years and 93 days, with Lidl-Trek’s Dutchman Bauke Mollema the oldest at 37 years and 51 days.

Medway, the 2024 Australian under-23 national time trial champion, crashed 11km before the finish but gallantly got back on his bike despite hitting the tarmac quite hard.

It was also the first time no past Santos Tour Down Under champion started since current race director Stuart O’Grady won the inaugural race in 1999. 

South Australian Tristan Saunders also made his debut at the WorldTour race.

New Zealand gun Fin Fisher-Black of UAE Team Emirates took out the first prime sprint, with the peloton out of comfort mode in the heat soon after.

A counterattack after the first prize disappeared into Kiwi hands hardly fazed favourites during the first lap past Angaston before the first King of the Mountain climb approached Menglers Hill.

Frenchman Louis Barre (Arkea B&B Hotels) claimed maximum points before he was joined by Georg Zimmerman (Intermarche-Wanty).

The pair then launched a daring breakaway which blew out to more than three minutes with about 100km before the race finish. 

The peloton would face the same climb two more times before the slightly uphill Tanunda finish line.

Zimmerman used his experience to claim the second intermediate sprint ahead of Barre, with New Zealand’s Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) taking out the final bonus second before the peloton chased down the leaders 68km before the Tanunda finish line.   

Barre made sure he would be wearing the King of the Mountain jersey during efex Stage 2 from Norwood to Lobethal on Wednesday when he was first over the line ahead of Zimmerman for the second time at Menglers Hill.  

The peloton was together for the final lap 24km from Angaston. Reigning Australian national champion Luke Plapp led the charge as his Jayco AlUla teammate, sprint gun Caleb Ewan, stayed well protected from head and cross winds which picked up during the 30C hot afternoon.    

However the new season started with drama for Bahrain Victorious’s Norwegian Torstein Traeen when he crashed into a median strip before the first prime sprint as all members of the peloton were trying to navigate their way out of trouble.

Traeen hit the deck and promptly got back on his bike, with Santos Tour Down Under medicos then patching up the 28-year-old’s arm from a rolling vehicle and giving him the all-clear to resume the race.

Bahrain Victorious’s Italian Nicolo Buratti’s later crash with 10km to go was a blow to his team and put pressure on his Australian teammate Jack Haigh amid a push get last year’s Tanunda stage winner Phil Bauhaus atop the podium given Traeen is also a potential GC contender.

KEY POINTS
24.5km: Sprint 1-Murray Street, Angaston near Penrice Road
UAE Team Emirates’ New Zealand gun Fin Fisher-Black drew first blood for the new 2024 UCI WorldTour season when he claimed the first intermediate sprint of the day and a provisional lead.

Fisher-Black, 22, claimed a three-second time bonus ahead of a fellow Kiwi – Israel Premier Tech’s Corbin Strong – while the 2024 Down Under Classic champion Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) earned a one-second bonus in third place.

32km: King of the Mountain 1-Menglers Hill (Category 4)
Louis Barre (Arkea B&B Hotels) earned three points, ahead of Georg Zimmerman (Intermarche-Wanty) and Austria’s Tobias Bayer (Alpecin – Deceuninck). The trio were content to bag their first points of a new WorldTour season.  

73.9km: Sprint 2-Murray Street, Angaston near Penrice Road
Louis Barre (Arkea B&B Hotels) earned three bonus seconds, ahead of Georg Zimmerman (Intermarche-Wanty).The pair reaped their rewards from a counterattack after the first KOM at Menglers Hill.

81.3km: King of the Mountain 2-Menglers Hill (Category 4)
Barre claimed more points when he was first atop Menglers Hill for the second time ahead of Zimmerman. That win earned him the polka dot jersey for Tuesday’s Stage 2.

130.7kmkm: King of the Mountain 3-Menglers Hill (Category 4)
Australia’s Luke Burns claimed the final King of the Mountain on offer before the race settled to set up the grand finale. 

ALL THE JERSEYS
Santos Leader’s Jersey – Sam Welsford (Bora Hansgrohe)
King of the Mountain – Louis Barre (Arkea-B&B Hotels)
Sprinter’s Jersey – Sam Welsford (Bora Hansgrohe)
Young Rider’s Jersey – Mads Mihkels (Intermarche-Wanty)
Most Competitive – Louis Barre (Arkea-B&B Hotels)

Complete results:

Stage 1 photos

144 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.95 km/hr

1	Samuel Welsford	Bora-hansgrohe	3hr 25min 56sec
2	Phil Bauhaus	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
3	Biniam Girmay	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
4	Caleb Ewan	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
5	Jhonatan Narvaez	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
6	Max Kanter	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
7	Danny Van Poppel	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
8	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
9	Madis Mihkels	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
10	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
11	Alvaro Hodeg Chagui	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
12	Milan Fretin	Cofidis	s.t.
13	Ivan Garcia Cortina	Movistar Team	s.t.
14	Patrick Eddy	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
15	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
16	Maurice Ballerstedt	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
17	Daniel Mclay	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
18	Bastien Tronchon	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
19	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
20	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
21	Cameron Scott	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
22	Laurence Pithie	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
23	Axel Mariault	Cofidis	s.t.
24	Emils Liepins	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
25	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
26	Milan Vader	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
27	Antoine Huby	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
28	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
29	Lilian Calmejane	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
30	Ruben Guerreiro	Movistar Team	s.t.
31	Rudiger Selig	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
32	Elia Viviani	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
33	Harrison Sweeny	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
34	Stefan De Bod	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
35	Clement Berthet	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
36	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
37	Isaac Del Toro Romero	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
38	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
39	Pieter Serry	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
40	Antonio Morgado Tomas	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
41	Michael Vink	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
42	Ben Zwiehoff	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
43	Archie Ryan	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
44	Dion Smith	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
45	Quinn Simmons	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
46	Franck Bonnamour	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
47	Guillaume Boivin	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
48	Valentin Paret Peintre	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
49	Gonzalo Serrano	Movistar Team	s.t.
50	Lucas Plapp	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
51	Rudy Molard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
52	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
53	George Bennett	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
54	Louis Barre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
55	Derek Gee	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
56	Owain Doull	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
57	Vinicius Rangel Costa	Movistar Team	s.t.
58	Jon Barrenetxea	Movistar Team	s.t.
59	Sean Flynn	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
60	Oscar Onley	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
61	Gianmarco Garfoli	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
62	Patrick Bevin	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
63	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
64	Manlio Moro	Movistar Team	s.t.
65	Stephen Williams	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
66	Reuben Thompson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
67	Stan Van Tricht	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
68	Simon Geschke	Cofidis	s.t.
69	Bauke Mollema	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
70	Filip Maciejuk	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
71	Simon Clarke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
72	Pavel Bittner	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
73	Simon Yates	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
74	Jonas Rutsch	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
75	Eddy Fine	Cofidis	s.t.
76	Roger Adria	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
77	Damien Howson	Australian National Team	s.t.
78	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
79	Loe Van Belle	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
80	Jason Osborne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
81	Laurens De Plus	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
82	Casper Pedersen	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
83	Christian Scaroni	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
84	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
85	Juri Hollmann	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
86	Koen Bouwman	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
87	Christopher Hamilton	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
88	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
89	Anthony Delaplace	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
90	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
91	Enzo Paleni	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
92	Jaakko Hänninen	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
93	Laurens Huys	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
94	Finn Lachlan Fox Fisher	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
95	Michel Ries	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
96	Chris Harper	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
97	Ben Swift	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
98	Julian Alaphilippe	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
99	Nans Peters	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
100	Natnael Tesfazion	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
101	Juan Pedro Lopez Perez	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
102	Mick Van Dijke	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
103	Bart Lemmen	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
104	Nicholas Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
105	Ryan Mullen	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
106	Miles Scotson	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
107	Kevin Ledanois	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
108	Jardi Christiaan Van Der Lee	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
109	Liam Walsh	Australian National Team	s.t.
110	Michael Storer	Australian National Team	s.t.
111	Campbell Stewart	Team Jayco Alula	@ 23sec
112	Luke Burns	Australian National Team	+25''
113	Declan Trezise	Australian National Team	s.t.
114	James Knox	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
115	Johannes Staune-Mittet	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	+31''
116	Fran Miholjevic	Bahrain Victorious	+33''
117	Tom Paquot	Intermarché-Wanty	+35''
118	Jacopo Mosca	Lidl-Trek	+38''
119	Paul Lapeira	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	+40''
120	Robert Gesink	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
121	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
122	Jack Rootkin-Gray	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
123	Joshua Tarling	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
124	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
125	Kelland O’Brien	Team Jayco Alula	+57''
126	Dario Cataldo	Lidl-Trek	+1'06''
127	Josef Cerny	Soudal Quick-Step	+1'25''
128	Gil Gelders	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
129	Johan Niklas Jacobs	Movistar Team	+1'38''
130	Filippo Ganna	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
131	Oliver Knight	Cofidis	+4'15''
132	Tristan Saunders	Australian National Team	+4'27''
133	Torstein Traeen	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
134	Clement Davy	Groupama-FDJ	+7'21''
135	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
136	Jackson Medway	Australian National Team	+7'43''
137	Leo Hayter	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
138	Nicolo Buratti	Bahrain Victorious	+7'49''
139	Johan Price Pejtersen	Bahrain Victorious	+16'13''

 

GC after stage 1:

1	Samuel Welsford	Bora-hansgrohe	3hr 25min 46sec
2	Phil Bauhaus	Bahrain Victorious	@ 4sec
3	Biniam Girmay	Intermarché-Wanty	+6''
4	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	+7''
5	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
6	Finn Lachlan Fox Fisher	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
7	Louis Barre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	+8''
8	Jhonatan Narvaez	Ineos Grenadiers	+9''
9	Caleb Ewan	Team Jayco Alula	+10''
10	Max Kanter	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
11	Danny Van Poppel	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
12	Madis Mihkels	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
13	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
14	Alvaro Hodeg Chagui	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
15	Milan Fretin	Cofidis	s.t.
16	Ivan Garcia Cortina	Movistar Team	s.t.
17	Patrick Eddy	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
18	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
19	Maurice Ballerstedt	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
20	Daniel Mclay	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
21	Bastien Tronchon	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
22	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
23	Lars Boven	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
24	Cameron Scott	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
25	Laurence Pithie	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
26	Axel Mariault	Cofidis	s.t.
27	Emils Liepins	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
28	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
29	Milan Vader	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
30	Antoine Huby	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
31	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
32	Lilian Calmejane	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
33	Ruben Guerreiro	Movistar Team	s.t.
34	Rudiger Selig	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
35	Elia Viviani	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
36	Harrison Sweeny	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
37	Stefan De Bod	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
38	Clement Berthet	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
39	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
40	Isaac Del Toro Romero	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
41	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
42	Pieter Serry	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
43	Antonio Morgado Tomas	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
44	Michael Vink	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
45	Ben Zwiehoff	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
46	Archie Ryan	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
47	Dion Smith	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
48	Quinn Simmons	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
49	Franck Bonnamour	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
50	Guillaume Boivin	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
51	Valentin Paret Peintre	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
52	Gonzalo Serrano	Movistar Team	s.t.
53	Lucas Plapp	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
54	Rudy Molard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
55	George Bennett	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
56	Derek Gee	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
57	Owain Doull	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
58	Vinicius Rangel Costa	Movistar Team	s.t.
59	Jon Barrenetxea	Movistar Team	s.t.
60	Sean Flynn	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
61	Oscar Onley	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
62	Gianmarco Garfoli	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
63	Patrick Bevin	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
64	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
65	Manlio Moro	Movistar Team	s.t.
66	Stephen Williams	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
67	Reuben Thompson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
68	Stan Van Tricht	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
69	Simon Geschke	Cofidis	s.t.
70	Bauke Mollema	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
71	Filip Maciejuk	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
72	Simon Clarke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
73	Pavel Bittner	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
74	Simon Yates	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
75	Jonas Rutsch	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
76	Eddy Fine	Cofidis	s.t.
77	Roger Adria	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
78	Damien Howson	Australian National Team	s.t.
79	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
80	Loe Van Belle	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
81	Jason Osborne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
82	Laurens De Plus	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
83	Casper Pedersen	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
84	Christian Scaroni	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
85	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
86	Juri Hollmann	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
87	Koen Bouwman	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
88	Christopher Hamilton	dsm-firmenich Postnl	s.t.
89	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
90	Anthony Delaplace	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
91	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
92	Enzo Paleni	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
93	Jaakko Hänninen	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
94	Laurens Huys	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
95	Michel Ries	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
96	Chris Harper	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
97	Ben Swift	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
98	Julian Alaphilippe	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
99	Nans Peters	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	s.t.
100	Natnael Tesfazion	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
101	Juan Pedro Lopez Perez	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
102	Mick Van Dijke	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
103	Bart Lemmen	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
104	Nicholas Schultz	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
105	Ryan Mullen	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
106	Miles Scotson	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
107	Kevin Ledanois	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
108	Jardi Christiaan Van Der Lee	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
109	Liam Walsh	Australian National Team	s.t.
110	Michael Storer	Australian National Team	s.t.
111	Campbell Stewart	Team Jayco Alula	+33''
112	Luke Burns	Australian National Team	+35''
113	Declan Trezise	Australian National Team	s.t.
114	James Knox	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
115	Johannes Staune-Mittet	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	+41''
116	Fran Miholjevic	Bahrain Victorious	+43''
117	Tom Paquot	Intermarché-Wanty	+45''
118	Jacopo Mosca	Lidl-Trek	+48''
119	Paul Lapeira	Decathlon Ag2R La Mondiale	+50''
120	Robert Gesink	Team Visma | Lease A Bike	s.t.
121	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Astana Qazaqstan Team	s.t.
122	Jack Rootkin-Gray	Ef Education-Easypost	s.t.
123	Joshua Tarling	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
124	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
125	Kelland O’Brien	Team Jayco Alula	+1'07''
126	Dario Cataldo	Lidl-Trek	+1'16''
127	Josef Cerny	Soudal Quick-Step	+1'35''
128	Gil Gelders	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
129	Johan Niklas Jacobs	Movistar Team	+1'48''
130	Filippo Ganna	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
131	Oliver Knight	Cofidis	+4'25''
132	Tristan Saunders	Australian National Team	+4'37''
133	Torstein Traeen	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
134	Clement Davy	Groupama-FDJ	+7'31''
135	Michael Hepburn	Team Jayco Alula	s.t.
136	Jackson Medway	Australian National Team	+7'53''
137	Leo Hayter	Ineos Grenadiers	s.t.
138	Nicolo Buratti	Bahrain Victorious	+7'59''
139	Johan Price Pejtersen	Bahrain Victorious	+16'23''

 

 

Stage one photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Robert Gesink signs in.

2024 Tour Down Under Classic winner Jhonatan Narvaez before the start.

Panorama

The peloton led by Jayco-AlUla & Bora-hansgrohe.

Louis Barre (Arkea B&B) & Georg Zimmermann (Intermarché-Wanty) try to get away.

Here they come...

Sam Welsford is the day's fastest man. That should be his teammate Danny Van Poppel celebrating behind him.

Sam Welsford and a teammate celebrate after the win.

Stage winner and GC leader Sam Welsford.

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage 1 map & profile