Britain Tour Men: Olav Kooij accelerates to win in sprint during stage 1 in Southwold
Tour of Britain 2023: Olav Kooij Wins Stage 1 as Milan Lanhove Takes KOM Jersey
The opening stage of the Tour of Britain 2023, a Pro-level race spanning 169.3km from Woodbridge to Southwold, saw an exciting day of racing.
An early breakaway of four riders formed in the first 6km, consisting of Joshua Golliker (EF Education-Aevolo), Milan Lanhove (Team Flanders-Balooise), Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders-Balooise), and Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma). The breakaway's gap went under one minute with under 40km to race, but they were eventually caught by the peloton in the final dozen kilometres.
Meanwhile, Lanhove made the most of the rainy conditions midway through the stage, taking the KOM points and securing the stage 2 jersey. His success continued when the sun came out, as he won the sprint contest.
In the final 1,000 metres, Matthew Brennan and another teammate led Kooij. Olav Kooij, racing for Visma-Lease a Bike, used a strong leadout by two teammates to take the lead in the race and secure his eighth victory of the season in the bunch sprint. Tord Gudmestad finished second, racing for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, while Hugo Hofstetter finished third.
Urgency was evident with 2.2km to go as Uno-X accelerated, followed by Lotto and Ineos Grenadiers. Visma-Lease a Bike, Picnic-PostNL, and Uno-X Mobility were the most active at the front of the chasing peloton. Alberto Dainese made an attack around the final two Visma riders, but his move came too early.
With the first stage completed, Hofstetter is in third place, another second behind Gudmestad. The only KOM points of the day were at Mill Hill, 56km into the race.
The race continues on Wednesday for 169.3km around Stowmarket, taking in the Mid Suffolk and Babergh districts. Let's see who will take the lead in the second stage of the Tour of Britain 2023.
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