Tour of Britain: Vermote wins in Kendal

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Julien Vermote (Etixx-QuickStep) claimed stage victory and the yellow jersey on day two of the Tour of Britain, while Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) signalled his intentions for final overall victory with a powerful display as he took second place on the tough leg to Kendal.

The 167-kilometre stage was run off in wet conditions, as it brought the peloton from Carlise through the rugged terrain of the Lake District, and it was always likely to prove a day for the strongmen.

Vermote was among the survivors of the 15-man break that went up the road early on and stayed out in front for the duration, while Cummings was impressive in forging across to the reduced front group over the top of the day’s principal difficulty, the Struggle.

Cummings was able to shake loose men of the calibre of Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) as he soloed across to the five leaders with 14 kilometres remaining, though the group swelled to eight shortly afterwards.

The Briton, however, seemed a man on a mission, and he attacked three times in quick succession on the rolling terrain near Kendal. Cummings' decisive acceleration came on a rise with 12 kilometre remaining, and only Vermote could hold his wheel. "I knew I couldn't give Cummings a metre, I had to follow him," Vermote said of the man who has enjoyed a remarkable four WorldTour wins this season.

With Martin now in the group behind and a punchy uphill finish to come, Vermote had reason not to collaborate, but he contributed enough to keep the move ticking over. The bulk of the heavy lifting, however, was performed by Cummings, whose prodigious efforts saw the duo open a lead of 40 seconds with 5 kilometres remaining.

With the general classification in mind, Cummings led into the final kilometre and kept piling on the pressure on the front as the road began to rise with 800 metres remaining. Vermote, meanwhile, was happy to bide his time, and he coolly jumped around the English just as the gradient began to relax with 200 metres to go.

Cummings was unable to respond and had to settle for second on the stage, four seconds down on Vermote, who also divested André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) of the yellow jersey. Dan Martin punched the air in celebration of his teammate Vermote's win as he crossed the line in 3rd place, 58 seconds down, ahead of Xandro Meurisse (Wanty Groupe Gobert), Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal) and Ben Swift (Team Sky).

The 27-year-old Vermote's last victory came at the Tour of Britain in 2014, when he won into Brighton. "It's always nice to win and particularly here, because I have a special feeling with this tour," Verrmote said. "I had a lot of motivation to come here but it’s never easy to win. There was a big group early on and it was a very tough stage because it was up and down all day. And then the last official climb was very hard."

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Greipel on the offensive

Speaking to Cyclingnews before the start, race leader André Greipel said that he had no intention of defending his jersey and would instead ride in support of teammate Tony Gallopin. Given the difficulty of controlling a race on such terrain, Greipel figured the best course of action was to get up the road ahead of his teammate, and he was duly part of the 15-man move that forged clear in the opening hour.

Greipel was joined in the move by Vermote, Johann Van Zyl (Dimension Data), Nicolas Roche (Sky), Loic Vliegen (BMC), Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapc) Miguel Angel Benito, Hector Saez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Conor Dunne (JTL-Condor), Xandro Meurisse (Wanty Groupe Gobert), Jochem Hoekstra, Martijn Tusveld (Giant-Alpecin), Tom Leezer, Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Marco Coledan and Jacopo Mosca (Trek-Segafredo), and they established a maximum lead of four minutes, while Movistar led the chase behind.

The escapees' lead gradually dwindled as they tackled the Whinlatter Pass and Chestnut Hill, but they still had a little over a minute in hand as they entered the final 30 kilometres and began the day’s principal difficulty, the mist-shrouded category 1 ascent of the Struggle.

Greipel, who won each of the day’s intermediate sprints, was among the riders to be distanced on the tough ascent thanks to the forcing of Meurisse, and by the top, only Roche, Vermote, Mosca and Lindeman remained in front with the Belgian.

The main peloton, meanwhile, also fragmented on the climb, as Dimension Data gave chase in support of Cummings, though Rohan Dennis (BMC) was the most impressive rider on the Struggle. The Australian powered away through low cloud and bridge across to the break shortly after the summit, though he would be joined by a number of other strongmen on the rolling approach to the line, including Cummings, Martin, Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Ben Swift (Sky).

It was clear, however, that Cummings would keep attacking until their number was reduced. Climbers of the quality of Martin and Dumoulin had already suffered on the 35-year-old’s wheel, and ultimately only Vermote had the legs to match him – and beat him – in the finale.

In the general classification, Vermote holds a lead of just 6 seconds over Cummings, while Martin is a threat at 1:04, four seconds up on Meurisse, Swift and Gallopin. The race continues on Tuesday with another tough leg over the Cat and Fiddle climb to Tatton Park, Knutsford.

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