Tour of Britain: Vakoc wins in Colne

Thwarted on stage one when Mark Cavendish was pipped on the line by Sky’s Elia Viviani, Etixx-QuickStep bounced back in the best way as Petr Vakoc produced an impressive solo performance to take victory in Colne and with it the leader’s yellow jersey.

One of an eight-man group that formed after the first-category climb of Bleara Moor with 55km remaining, the young Czech struck out on his own 19km from the finish as the peloton began to close in. Although his advantage only reached a maximum of 30 seconds, the 23-year-old managed to maintain his cushion through the twisting Lancashire lanes and up the long drag to the finish.

A much-reduced peloton was led across the line by Movistar’s Juan José Lobato, bashing his bars with frustration having failed to overhaul Vakoc, with MTN-Qhubeka’s Edvald Boasson Hagen in third.

"It was a really hard day, but I had really good legs," said Vakoc. "I gave it my best and it paid off. It’s one of the biggest victories of my career. I wasn’t sure I would be able to stay away after the long ride at the front on my own."

The Etixx-QuickStep rider said he is looking forward to the challenge of defending the yellow jersey, starting on Tuesday’s third stage between Cockermouth and Kelso. "But it’s going to be hard to do that with just six riders and with six stages still to go."

How it unfolded

With the first-category Nick O’Pendle looming just a kilometre into the stage, a frantic start was always on the cards as the peloton rode out of sunny Clitheroe to begin one of the toughest stages of the race. Local man Ian Bibby (NFTO) led over the climb, which quickly led into the day’s first sprint.

Soon after Lotto-Soudal’s Pim Ligthart took that, the day’s first break formed. Initially comprising the sole figure of Pete Williams (ONE Pro Cycling), stage one’s most aggressive rider, it doubled in size when Movistar’s Alex Dowsett bridged across to him.

Having seen how Dowsett turned last year’s race upside down when he slipped into a break, Sky didn’t allow the Englishman too much leeway. The two leaders pushed their advantage out to four minutes, but when Sky pulled it back to less than one Dowsett sat up and let Williams continue on to take maximum points at the second sprint and take the lead in that competition.

Williams’ courageous effort ended up on lower slopes of Bleara Moor, where Bibby again drew on his local knowledge to lead over the climb. Lined out going up it, the peloton split into two parts coming off it, with race leader Viviani in the second group, which rapidly lost ground.

Up front, BMC Racing produced another split. Stefan Küng made one attempt to go clear. When that failed, teammate Danilo Wyss countered. He was joined initially by Alex Peters (Great Britain) and Vakoc, and then by five more riders: Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale-Garmin), Wout Poels (Sky), Pim Ligthart, Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka) and Rubén Fernández (Movistar).

Their lead hovered around 45 seconds over the chasing group going over the final climb of Pendle Big End, where Fernández led over, and through the final sprint at Clitheroe, where Ligthart was quickest. However, although they were cooperating well, Vakoc sensed they weren’t going fast enough to stay clear.

With 19km he accelerated. He expected someone to go with him, but didn’t wait around when no one managed to. "I had good feelings," he said. "It was a beautiful victory."

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