Johansson wins stage 1 of Women's Tour in Northampton

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Emma Johansson (Orica-AIS) won the first stage of the inaugural Friends Life Women's Tour stage race in Britain, beating Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv) in a sprint finish in Northampton.

Hannah Barnes (UnitedHealthcare) was third and so takes the best young rider's jersey, while her teammate Sharon Laws is the first leader of the climber's competition after chasing points during the stage.

The opening 93.8km stage from Oundle to Northampton saw some aggressive racing with riders fighting for the points in the climber's and sprinter's competition. The sun was out for the start of the race in Oundle, with huge crowds sending off the riders for the first ever stage of the race.

An early gravel section caused Jade Wilcoxson (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) to crash and others riders were distanced for a while.

Ellen van Dijk (Boels Dolmans) won the first sprint after 30km ahead of Johansson and Vos, then Rossella Ratto (Estado de Mexico-Faren) attacked alone and stayed away to take the first climber's jersey points. She was slowed by a rain shower and was eventually caught before the 50km mark.

Vos beat Linda Ingerland (Switzerland) and Laws to win the second climber's points and the aggressive racing inspired French national champion Elise Delzenne (Specialized-Lululemon), who surged away alone. She carved out a 25-second lead with 25km to go. It reached 40 seconds at one point but the Rabo Liv and Boels-Dolmans teams then began a concerted chase.

Delzenne stayed away to take the second sprint of the stage but her lead was down to just 15 seconds with 10km to go. She still had 13 seconds with three kilometres remaining but the finale proved to be fatal for her chances with riders attacking from the peloton. She was caught with a kilometre to go and then other riders immediately began to fight for position for the finish.

Lizzie Armitstead (Boels Dolmans) lead out the sprint but Johansson is an expert finisher and superb sprinter. She timed her effort perfectly as the gradient kicked in and had the speed to defeat Vos and Garner to take the race leader's yellow jersey.

Johansson will wear the yellow jersey during Thursday's 118km second stage from Hinckley to Bedford in the southeast of England.

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