Matteo Pelucchi takes 5th in the 1st stage of the Tour of Britain

For the 1^st stage of the race which began in Scotland, this 10^th edition of the Tour of Britain has reserved a worthy traditional welcome for its participants, many of whom are riders from across the Channel.

Wind, rain, cold (11°), with a modicum of sunshine accompanied the riders on their 209.9 kilometer journey from Peebles to Drumlanrig Castle.  Italian Elia Viviani (Cannondale) grabbed the highest honors in front of Alessandro Pelucchi and Gerald Ciolek.

Well placed in the final dash for the line, though many riders were hindered by a pileup just 200 meters from the finish, Matteo Pelucchi slotted himself impressively into a strong 5^th place for the day.  The Italian sprinter for IAM Cycling did not feel overly satisfied.

“The final circuit was dangerous at best.  I really expected to fall more than once.  The whole team worked amazingly hard to keep me perfectly positioned.  Thomas (Löfkvist) and Martin (Elmiger) even crashed in this, to say the least, particular setting. I was well placed in 5^th position on Viviani’s wheel on the false flat and when we switched over, I did not make up any places.  We were all going about the same speed.  It’s also true that today I did not have the best legs considering the weather conditions we were experiencing the entire day.”

Directeur sportif Kjell Carlström was manning the first team car and confirmed his sprinter’s sentiments.  “We overall did not do too badly considering the crash in the final.  Throughout the day, the guys braved the elements, which included a violent wind.  In these extenuating circumstances, it is inevitably that it is the strongest who comes out on top.  But our team performed well and was working at all times for Matteo Pelucchi.”

All images by Gruber Images