Tour of Slovakia: Kristoff wins stage 1a

(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) took victory on the opening stage of the Tour of Slovakia, taking the race lead as he beat the Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Michael Mørkøv and Elia Viviani in a bunch sprint.

Groupama-FDJ and Deceuninck-QuickStep controlled the stage, the first of two on Wednesday, for much of the day, ensuring that the early break wouldn't stay away to contest the finish.

The six-man break got away early on, with Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Riwal Readynez), Alexandre Delletre (Delko Marseille Provence), Erik Fetter (Pannon Cycling Team), Florian Kierner (Felbermayr-Simplon), Kenny Molly (Wallonie-Bruxelles), and Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X) making up the day's main break.

The sextet were brought back 10km before the finish, setting up a sprint finish on the cobbled streets of Bardejov. Despite Deceuninck-QuickStep's strength in numberes and fearsome lead-out train, it was Kristoff who powered to victory, his seventh of the season.

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates	3:21:48
2	Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3	Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
4	Erik Baška (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe
5	Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
6	Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
7	Emils Liepinš (Lat) Wallonie-Bruxelles
8	Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk	0:00:04
9	Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
10	Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:00:08

General classification
#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates	3:21:42
2	Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:00:02
3	Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:00:04
4	Erik Baška (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe	0:00:06
5	Arnaud Démare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
6	Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy
7	Emils Liepinš (Lat) Wallonie-Bruxelles
8	Andrea Peron (Ita) Team Novo Nordisk	0:00:10
9	Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Roompot-Charles
10	Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:00:14

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Daniel Ostanek

Daniel Ostanek has been a staff writer at Cyclingnews since August 2019, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later part-time production editor. Before Cyclingnews, he was published in numerous publications around the cycling world, including Procycling, CyclingWeekly, CyclingTips, Cyclist, and Rouleur, among others. As well as reporting and writing news, Daniel runs the 'How to watch' content on Cyclingnews and takes on live race text coverage throughout the season.

Daniel has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, and has interviewed a number of the sport's biggest stars, including Egan Bernal, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mark Cavendish, and Anna van der Breggen. Daniel rides a 2002 Landbouwkrediet Colnago C40 and his favourite races are Tro-Bro Léon, Strade Bianche, and the Vuelta a España.