Columbia’s Mark Cavendish wins stage 1 in Ireland
- By Steve Frothingham
- Published Aug. 27, 2008
- Updated Aug. 28, 2008 at 10:39 AM UTC
Garmin-Chipotle’s Julian Dean is second.
Neither a four-man breakaway nor getting spit out on a climb could stop Columbia’s Mark Cavendish from taking a commanding sprint win in the opening stage of the Tour of Ireland. Columbia rode the front of the peloton all day, then strung it out in the rush to the flat finish along River Suir in downtown Waterford.
“My form isn’t so good out there after just getting back from Beijing, and it just shows how you need such a strong team behind you,” said Cavendish, who hails from the Isle of Man. “They rode today like always, and I think we have shown for a while now how strong we are as a team.”
The 192km stage kicked off in the heart of Dublin, then headed south over tight, winding roads and four categorized climbs.
After a stage one breakaway in last year’s inaugural Tour of Ireland largely decided the race — the overall winner came from that 10-man move — riders were on the alert for a similar move Wednesday. With the morning’s drizzle giving way to dry skies, a number of groups tried their luck before three riders made a move stick.
Travis Meyer (SouthAustralia.com-AIS), David George (MTN Energade) and Ireland’s Martyn Irvine (Pezula) got a gap going, and were soon joined by Team Type 1’s Matt Wilson, who clawed his way across. The quartet built a maximum lead of more than 7 minutes.
The hills and the stiff wind eventually took their toll, however. Irvine fell off the pace as the break ascended the mist-shrouded Cat. 1 Mount Leinster.
“I knew it was coming,” Irvine said. “I can’t climb worth anything. I can’t get over a bump in the road. I thought I could get them on the descent, but they must have really been tapping through up there.”
George came off soon after.
Meyer and Wilson kept their hopes alive and the power on, however, until about 10km to go. Wilson was rewarded for his efforts on the day with the red king of the mountains jersey.
“It’s good to come away with something,” Wilson said. “I knew that Garmin and Columbia would be going hard. I was really hoping that there would have been a few more guys that came along with us and give us a good chance of staying away.”
Wilson said he would have a good chance of keeping his red jersey, however: “I’ve got a strong team here, so I’m sure they’ll help me defend it.”
Coming into Waterford, Columbia didn’t even pretend like it was giving another team a chance to set up a lead-out train. After crossing River Suir and banking east, Columbia’s black-and-blue machine delivered Cavendish to the final 200 meters, with Garmin-Chiptole’s Julian Dean on his wheel. That was the order across the line, with Norway’s Alexander Kristoff (Joker-Bianchi) rounding out the podium.
After the stage, Cavendish said his form was off after traveling from Beijing, where he raced the Madison with Great Britain teammate Bradley Wiggins (The pair finished ninth).
“The categorized climbs weren’t so hard; it was the rolling terrain after the last categorized climb where it got really, really tricky,” Cavendish said. “The peloton split, and I actually got dropped from the front group at one point. Bernie (Eisel) had to drop back for me.”
Poor form or no, Cavendish will start stage 2 from Thurles to Loughrea in the yellow jersey. By taking second and winning the first intermediate sprint of the day, Kristoff snagged the green points jersey and leapfrogged Dean into second place on the general classification. With Cavendish leading the under-25 competition, the white jersey goes to Rabobank’s Boy Van Poppel.
Photo Gallery
Results
Stage 1 Results | (GC Results ) | ( Points Standings )
1. Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia in 5:00:20
2. Julian Dean, Garmin Chipotle H30
3. Alexander Kristoff, Joker Bianchi Team
4. Boy Van Poppel, Rabobank
5. Dean Downing, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
6. Kurt De Schrooder, An Post Sean Kelly Team
7. Russell Downing, Pinarello Canditv
8. Nikolas Maes, Topsport Vlaanderen
9. Kurt Hovelijnck, Topsport Vlaanderen
10. Zakkari Dempster, Southaustralia.com/ais
11. Dale Appleby, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
12. Valeriy Kobzarenko, Team Type 1 Cycling Team
13. Francisco Mouron, Juan, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team
14. Sven Renders, Topsport Vlaanderen
15. Juan Van Heerden, Mtn Energade
16. Max Richeze, Csf Group Navigare
17. Massimo Graziato, Tinkoff – Credit Systems
18. Malcom Elliott, Pinarello Canditv
19. Ciaran Power, Pezula
20. Moises Aldape, Team Type 1 Cycling Team
21. Cameron Jennings, Pezula
22. Kristian House, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
23. Daniel Lloyd, An Post Sean Kelly Team
24. Dan Martin, Garmin Chipotle H30
25. Magnus Backstedt, Garmin Chipotle H30
26. Gonzalo Rabunal, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team
27. Simon Clarke, Southaustralia.com/ais
28. Adam Hansen, Team Columbia
29. Delio Fernandez, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team
30. Frederiek Nolf, Topsport Vlaanderen
31. Ramon Sinkeldam, Rabobank
32. Alexander Gottfried, Tinkoff – Credit Systems
33. Tom Murray, Pinarello Canditv
34. Matt Wilson, Team Type 1 Cycling Team
35. Bart Aernouts, Rabobank
36. Trent Lowe, Garmin Chipotle H30
37. Rob Partridge, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
38. Johan Coenen, Topsport Vlaanderen
39. Michael Barry, Team Columbia
40. Stephen Gallagher, An Post Sean Kelly Team
41. Luca Mazzanti, Tinkoff – Credit Systems
42. Serguei Klimov, Tinkoff – Credit Systems
43. Johnnie Walker, Southaustralia.com/ais
44. Adam Semple, Southaustralia.com/ais
45. Petter Nordhaug, Lars, Joker Bianchi Team
46. Francesco Tomei, Csf Group Navigare
47. Roger Aiken, Irish National Team
48. Marco Pinotti, Team Columbia
49. Matteo Priamo, Csf Group Navigare
50. David Millar, Garmin Chipotle H30
51. Joeri Adams, Rabobank
52. Ben Greenwood, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk
53. Morris Possoni, Team Columbia
54. Kevin Evans, Mtn Energade
55. Wesley Sulzberger, Southaustralia.com/ais
56. Daniel Fleeman, An Post Sean Kelly Team
57. Mark Cassidy, An Post Sean Kelly Team
58. Ilya Chernetskiy, Tinkoff – Credit Systems
59. Neil Macdonald, Mtn Energade
60. Frederik Wilman, Joker Bianchi Team
61. Frantisek Rabon, Team Columbia
62. Stian Sommerseth, Joker Bianchi Team s.t.
63. Thomas Rabou, Rabobank at 22
64. Thomas Berkhout, Rabobank s.t.
65. Ruben Bongiorno, Csf Group Navigare at 28
66. Filippo Savini, Csf Group Navigare at 53
67. Travis Meyer, Southaustralia.com/ais s.t.
68. David Mccann, Irish National Team at 01:33
69. Maarten Neyens, Topsport Vlaanderen at 09:40
70. Kenny De Haes, Topsport Vlaanderen s.t.
71. Alejandro Paleo, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team s.t.
72. Alberto Fernandez, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team s.t.
73. Jay Thomson, Mtn Energade s.t.
74. Fabio Calabria, Team Type 1 Cycling Team s.t.
75. Joachim Bohler, Joker Bianchi Team s.t.
76. Bernard Eisel, Team Columbia s.t.
77. Martijn Maaskant, Garmin Chipotle H30 s.t.
78. Fredrik Ericsson, Pezula s.t.
79. Kieran Page, Pezula s.t.
80. Michael Van Staeyen, Rabobank s.t.
81. Paidi O’brien, An Post Sean Kelly Team s.t.
82. Peter Williams, Pinarello Canditv s.t.
83. Simon Holt, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk s.t.
84. Emile Abraham, Team Type 1 Cycling Team s.t.
85. Alex. Surutkovych, Team Type 1 Cycling Team s.t.
86. Mauro Richeze, Csf Group Navigare s.t.
87. Andy Roche, Pinarello Canditv s.t.
88. Paul Griffen, Irish National Team s.t.
89. Erik Vold, Svein, Joker Bianchi Team s.t.
90. Alex Wetterhall, Pezula at 11:35
91. Waylon Woolcock, Mtn Energade at 12:31
92. Graham Briggs, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk s.t.
93. Mathew Kipling, Pinarello Canditv s.t.
94. Ramon Troncoso, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team s.t.
95. Matt King, Southaustralia.com/ais s.t.
96. Kenny Lisabett, An Post Sean Kelly Team s.t.
97. Ingar Stokstad, Joker Bianchi Team at 13:11
98. Miceal Concannon, Irish National Team s.t.
99. Sean Lacey, Irish National Team s.t.
100. Chris Sutton, Garmin Chipotle H30 s.t.
101. Martyn Irvine, Pezula s.t.
102. David O’loughlin, Pezula s.t.
103. David Abal, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team s.t.
104. Paul Healion, Irish National Team s.t.
105. Bernardo Riccio, Tinkoff – Credit Systems s.t.
106. David George, Mtn Energade at 24:50
107. Stephen O’Sullivan, Irish National Team s.t.
108. Lee Davis, Pinarello Canditv at 27:15
GC after stage 1: | (Stage 1 results ) | ( Points Standings )
1. Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia in 5:00:09
2. Alexander Kristoff, Joker Bianchi Team
3. Julian Dean, Garmin Chipotle H30 at 05
4. Matt Wilson, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at 08
5. Boy Van Poppel, Rabobank at 11
6. Dean Downing, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
7. Kurt De Schrooder, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
8. Russell Downing, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
9. Nikolas Maes, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
10. Kurt Hovelijnck, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
11. Zakkari Dempster, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
12. Dale Appleby, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
13. Valeriy Kobzarenko, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at s.t.
14. Francisco Mouron, Juan, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
15. Sven Renders, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
16. Juan Van Heerden, Mtn Energade at s.t.
17. Max Richeze, Csf Group Navigare at s.t.
18. Massimo Graziato, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
19. Malcom Elliott, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
20. Ciaran Power, Pezula at s.t.
21. Moises Aldape, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at s.t.
22. Cameron Jennings, Pezula at s.t.
23. Kristian House, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
24. Daniel Lloyd, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
25. Dan Martin, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
26. Magnus Backstedt, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
27. Gonzalo Rabunal, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
28. Simon Clarke, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
29. Adam Hansen, Team Columbia at s.t.
30. Delio Fernandez, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
31. Frederiek Nolf, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
32. Ramon Sinkeldam, Rabobank at s.t.
33. Alexander Gottfried, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
34. Tom Murray, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
35. Bart Aernouts, Rabobank at s.t.
36. Trent Lowe, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
37. Rob Partridge, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
38. Johan Coenen, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
39. Michael Barry, Team Columbia at s.t.
40. Stephen Gallagher, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
41. Luca Mazzanti, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
42. Serguei Klimov, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
43. Johnnie Walker, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
44. Adam Semple, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
45. Petter Nordhaug, Lars, Joker Bianchi Team at s.t.
46. Francesco Tomei, Csf Group Navigare at s.t.
47. Roger Aiken, Irish National Team at s.t.
48. Marco Pinotti, Team Columbia at s.t.
49. Matteo Priamo, Csf Group Navigare at s.t.
50. David Millar, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
51. Joeri Adams, Rabobank at s.t.
52. Ben Greenwood, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
53. Morris Possoni, Team Columbia at s.t.
54. Kevin Evans, Mtn Energade at s.t.
55. Wesley Sulzberger, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
56. Daniel Fleeman, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
57. Mark Cassidy, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
58. Ilya Chernetskiy, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
59. Neil Macdonald, Mtn Energade at s.t.
60. Frederik Wilman, Joker Bianchi Team at s.t.
61. Frantisek Rabon, Team Columbia at 24
62. Stian Sommerseth, Joker Bianchi Team at s.t.
63. Thomas Rabou, Rabobank at 33
64. Thomas Berkhout, Rabobank at s.t.
65. Ruben Bongiorno, Csf Group Navigare at 39
66. Travis Meyer, Southaustralia.com/ais at 01:01
67. Filippo Savini, Csf Group Navigare at 01:04
68. David Mccann, Irish National Team at 01:44
69. Joachim Bohler, Joker Bianchi Team at 09:49
70. Maarten Neyens, Topsport Vlaanderen at 09:51
71. Kenny De Haes, Topsport Vlaanderen at s.t.
72. Alejandro Paleo, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
73. Alberto Fernandez, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
74. Jay Thomson, Mtn Energade at s.t.
75. Fabio Calabria, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at s.t.
76. Bernard Eisel, Team Columbia at s.t.
77. Martijn Maaskant, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
78. Fredrik Ericsson, Pezula at s.t.
79. Kieran Page, Pezula at s.t.
80. Michael Van Staeyen, Rabobank at s.t.
81. Paidi O’brien, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
82. Peter Williams, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
83. Simon Holt, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
84. Emile Abraham, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at s.t.
85. Alex. Surutkovych, Team Type 1 Cycling Team at s.t.
86. Mauro Richeze, Csf Group Navigare at s.t.
87. Andy Roche, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
88. Paul Griffen, Irish National Team at s.t.
89. Erik Vold, Svein, Joker Bianchi Team at s.t.
90. Alex Wetterhall, Pezula at 11:46
91. Waylon Woolcock, Mtn Energade at 12:42
92. Graham Briggs, Rapha Condor Recycling.co.uk at s.t.
93. Mathew Kipling, Pinarello Canditv at s.t.
94. Ramon Troncoso, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
95. Matt King, Southaustralia.com/ais at s.t.
96. Kenny Lisabett, An Post Sean Kelly Team at s.t.
97. Martyn Irvine, Pezula at 13:19
98. Ingar Stokstad, Joker Bianchi Team at 13:22
99. Miceal Concannon, Irish National Team at s.t.
100. Sean Lacey, Irish National Team at s.t.
101. Chris Sutton, Garmin Chipotle H30 at s.t.
102. David O’loughlin, Pezula at s.t.
103. David Abal, Karpin Galicia Cycling Team at s.t.
104. Paul Healion, Irish National Team at s.t.
105. Bernardo Riccio, Tinkoff – Credit Systems at s.t.
106. David George, Mtn Energade at 24:58
107. Stephen O’sullivan, Irish National Team at 25:01
108. Lee Davis, Pinarello Canditv at 27:26
Points Competition | ( Stage Results )| (GC Results)
1. A Kristoff, 18 Points
2. M Cavendish, 17 Points
3. J Dean, 14 Points
4. B Van Poppel, 12 Points
5. D Downing, 11 Points
6. K De Schrooder, 10 Points
7. R Downing, 10 Points
8. N Maes, 8 Points
9. K Hovelijnck, 7 Points
10. M Wilson, 6 Points
11. Z Dempster, 6 Points
12. M Irvine, 5 Points
13. D Appleby, 5 Points
14. T Meyer, 5 Points
15. D George, 5 Points
16. V Kobzarenko, 4 Points
17. J Mouron, 3 Points
18. J Bohler, 3 Points
19. S Renders, 2 Points
20. J Van Heerden, 1 Points
21. M Possoni, 1 Points
FILED UNDER: Race Report / Race Result / Road
Steve Frothingham
VeloNews.com editor Steve Frothingham joined the gang in bike-crazy Boulder in early 2008. He is the former executive editor of the trade magazine Bicycle Retailer & Industry News. He also was a reporter and editor for The Associated Press, where he covered three presidential primaries in politics-crazy New Hampshire. His racing career began on a BMX track in 1980 and reached its zenith with several miserable road races as a category 2 in the early 90s. He subsequently retreated to cat. 3, where he has had a consistently mediocre (at best) record ever since, in road, mountain bike and cyclocross events. Follow him on Twitter at @steve_froth