Breschel opens Saxo Bank account

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Denmark's national road champion Matti Breschel (Team Saxo Bank) sprinted to victory in the opening stage of his home national Tour, besting Simon Gerrans (Cervélo TestTeam) and Martin Pedersen (Team Capinordic) at the finish in Rebild.

The victor of the 175-kilometre stage was in doubt until the closing metres, as Gerrans and Pedersen made a strong counterattack in the closing kilometre just as the last of a four-man break, Italy's Federico Canuti (CSF Group-Navigare), was absorbed. Breschel had the power to come around the duo of Gerrans and Pedersen in the uphill sprint as the peloton caught them at the finish line.

"Coming into the finish, the riders hit a hill which took them up to the line. The peloton split on this hill and Matti was able to take the sprint since he was by far the strongest on the climb," said Team Saxo Bank directeur sportif Dan Frost. "It's always a good day when the team wins. The guys rode very well and pulled back an early break which had gained over five minutes on the peloton."

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For most of the Tour of Denmark's first stage five riders, Jeremy Hunt (Cervélo TestTeam), Thijs van Amerongen (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team), Jacob Nielsen Larsen (Glud & Marstrand Horsens), Nicolaj Olesen (Vesthimmerland Pro Cycling) and Rene Weissinger (Vorarlberg-Corratec), were off the front after attacking the peloton in the opening kilometres. The quintet stretched its lead to more than five minutes over the field, but was absorbed on the first of three 13-kilometre finishing laps in Rebild after enjoying approximately 120 kilometres of freedom.

On the second finishing circuit four riders made their bid for victory: Dominique Rollin (Cervélo TestTeam), 2008 Tour of Denmark winner Jakob Fuglsang (Team Saxo Bank), Enrico Rossi (Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce) and Canuti. Rollin lost contact with his three breakaway companions as Fuglsang put in a strong pull on one of the finishing circuit's climbs, but the remaining trio continued on, holding a 30-second lead with 10 kilometres remaining. Inside of five kilometres to go, Canuti attacked as their lead fell inside of 20 seconds. Fuglsang and Rossi were soon caught by the peloton, while Canuti's attack lasted until the final kilometre.

Breschel's win earned the Dane the leader's jersey in addition to the points jersey. Rollin didn't come away empty handed from the opening stage as he scored enough points to take the first climber's jersey of the event.

While Team Saxo Bank controls general classification, that doesn't preclude an aggressive race from the Danish team on Thursday. "We have many options for the GC, and hopefully we will have more wind tomorrow," said Frost. "Even though we have the yellow jersey, we may need to come out and attack. We have Jacob [Fuglsang] now on the team who won last year of course, but we also can look to Matti [Breschel], Lars Bak and Nicki Sörensen who is also on good form."