Rohan Dennis moves into race lead as Michael Hepburn misses the move
Moreno Hofland (Netherlands) took the opening stage of the Tour de l’Avenir between Yutz and Lunéville as he outsprinted the rest of a seven-rider group that had escaped inside the final 15km. The Dutchman, who rides for the Rabobank Continental team, beat Romain Bardet (France) into second, with Matteo Mammini (Italy) third at the end of the 160km stage.
The stage was dominated by an attack from under-23 Paris-Roubaix winner Ramon Sinkeldam (Netherlands), along with Esteban Chaves (Colombia) and Thomas Moses (Great Britain), who escaped in the ninth kilometre.
After 45km the three fugitives had opened up a lead of 10’08, which was to be the maximum; it had dropped to nine minutes as Sinkeldam led over the intermediate sprint, in Pange after 58km, and continued to drop as the Australian team of prologue winner Michael Hepburn led the peloton.
The Australian team continued to whittle away at the breakaway’s lead and as Sinkeldam led over the final intermediate sprint, in Brin-sue-Seille with 27km to go, it was down to two minutes.
The break was finally over with sixteen kilometres to go and, after an unsuccessful attack involving Hepburn, a group of seven got away. In the group were Hofland, Bardet and Mammini, with Arman Kamyshev (Kazakhstan), David Boily (Canada), Rohan Dennis (Australia) and Georg Preidler (Austria). With enough riders from the big teams present, the group managed to stay away to contest the stage, where Hofland came out on top.
Wouter Wippert (Netherlands) led the peloton over the line, with Hepburn safely inside, 26 seconds later. Dennis had been second in the prologue however, and so takes over the lead form his teammate, who he now leads by 22 seconds.
Result stage 1
1. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Netherlands National Team
2. Romain Bardet (Fra) France National Team
3. Matteo Mammini (Ita) Italian National Team
4. Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Kazakhstan National Team
5. David Boily (Can) Canadian National Team
6. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Australian National Team
7. Georg Preidler (Aut) Austrian National Team @ 4s
8. Wouter Wippert (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 26s
9. Niklas Arndt (Ger) German National Team
10. Marco Haller (Aut) Austrian National Team
Standings after stage 1
1. Rohan Dennis (Aus) Australian National Team
2. Michael Hepburn (Aus) Australian National Team @ 22s
3. David Boily (Can) Canadian National Team @ 24s
4. Georg Preidler (Aut) Austrian National Team @ 35s
5. Moreno Hofland (Ned) Netherlands National Team
6. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Netherlands National Team @ 40s
7. Jakub Novak (Cze) Czech Republic National Team @ 44s
8. Hugo Houle (Can) Canadian National Team
9. Romain Bardet (Fra) France National Team @ 46s
10. Michael Valgren Andersen (Den) Denmark National Team @ 48s