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| Austria’s Matthias Brändle breaks free to win Tour of Britain stage five | Austria’s Matthias Brändle breaks free to win Tour of Britain stage five |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| After four near-misses, an early escape finally proved successful in the Tour of Britain, with the Austrian Matthias Brändle leaving three other enterprising attackers on the final ascent of Stoke Hill to finish with the peloton on his shirt-tails in Exeter’s High Street. The race leader Michal Kwiatkowski rode in safely among an elite chasing group, along with Sir Bradley Wiggins, meaning there was no change to the upper reaches of the standings. | |
| It was a perfect result for Kwiatkowski, with Brändle and his breakaway companions Shane Archbold, the Commonwealth Games scratch champion from a few weeks ago, and Holland’s Maarten Wynants – who clung on for second and third – scooping up the time bonuses on offer on the line. “It’s a strange race,” said the Pole who is the first of the race’s four leaders to retain the yellow jersey this year. “All the first 20 riders are dangerous, so there’s not one name you have to keep an eye on.” He also felt that fatigue was playing its part after four days of hilly roads, with teams unwilling or unable to chase. | |
| Brändle, Archbold and Wynants had escaped shortly after the start in Exmouth along with Andreas Stauff of MTN-Qhubeka; none was a threat overall, and the peloton simply left it too late to catch them. As the race headed back into Exeter through Okehampton and Crediton after a lengthy loop over Dartmoor, only the Garmin-Sharp team showed any interest in bringing the escapees to order. But with only four riders available to work the mathematics were never on their side. | |
| As at Bristol and Llandudno, the last climb proved decisive. Stoke Hill is a two kilometre drag up from the Exe Valley before a high speed descent through the Pennsylvania district to the finish line. Brandle and company had a just under minute in hand when they hit the foot, three miles from the finish, and within a few hundred yards the Austrian had pulled away. | |
| The 24-year-old is a double national time trial champion, and the rapid plunge to the line meant he had only to get over the summit with a few seconds in hand to have victory in the bag. This was, he added, the biggest win of his career, but it also marks continued progress for the Swiss IAM cycling team, sponsored by a finance house – International Asset Management, hence the acronym – which is now in its second year of existence. | |
| Last year, they came to this race and looked disjointed, but 12 months on they have their first Tour de France behind them. July was the predictable baptism of fire but they have enjoyed a purple patch in recent weeks with Sylvain Chavanel finding form to win the Grand Prix de Plouay and Tour de Poitou Charentes. | |
| In the finale of the Bristol stage they had mounted an intense pursuit behind the day’s escape in an attempt to set up Chavanel for the stage win, but it came to nothing, hence the change of plan. “Yesterday I had to chase, it was my job, and I went really deep so I thought today it had better be the other way round,” said Brändle. “In the middle of the race, none of us believed in the win, but then the gap went out and with 40km to go we said we would go full speed. I had the feeling a bit before the climb that I was the strongest and you don’t want to risk losing the win by waiting.” | |
| Brändle added that in common with many here, he is finding the roads unexpectedly hard, because of the length of the stages – increased this year with the race’s rise in category – and the constant hills. “By the finish you have 20 climbs in your legs, so it’s different to other races. We still have Sylvain up there overall, and he is good on those kind of roads.” | |
| Here, late attacks from Garmin’s Dylan van Baarle and the ever-aggressive Nicolas Roche – who has been linked to a move to Sky for next season – whittled the peloton down. The climbing continues on Friday in the Chilterns, with another ascent – less severe than Thursday’s – just before the finish in Hemel Hempstead. | |