Tiernan-Locke wins Med opening stage

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John Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) upset the sprinters on the opening day of the Tour Méditerranéen with a canny attack in the finale to take stage victory and the overall lead. The Briton grabbed his opportunity when the road climbed slightly 2.5km from the line in Meyreuil.

Sensing a degree of hesitation among the FDJ-BigMat lead-out train, Tiernan-Locke seized the initiative and jumped clear of the peloton. Coming under the red kite, it looked as though FDJ-BigMat would shut down the plucky move as they strived to set up the sprint for their man Yauheni Hutarovich. Tiernan-Locke had other ideas, however, and he showed great resilience to hold off the fast-closing peloton in the finishing straight to take the win.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Hutarovich, who had to content himself with second place on the stage. The fastman from Belarus is still waiting for his first win of the season after a string of consistent finishes at the Tour Down Under in January. Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar) rounded out the podium in third.

As was the case at the recent Étoile de Bessèges, the wintry weather that has struck southern France made an impact on the route. Icy conditions between Petruis and Meyreuil meant that the day’s original route had to be modified, with the planned category 1 Col des Portes and the category 2 Col du Grand Sambuc ascents being replaced by a pair of category 3 climbs.