Freddy Ovett claims stage 1 of Zwift Tour for All
Israel Cycling Academy takes early lead
Freddy Ovett (Israel Start-Up Nation) took victory on the opening stage of the Zwift Tour for All, edging out Emmanuel Morin (Cofidis) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) in a sprint finish for the line in virtual Innsbruck.
The finish came down to a bunch sprint from a small group who had stuck together for much of the race, with nine men battling it out for victory in the closing metres.
With Ovett's win, Israel Start-Up Nation took the team win, with 85 points accrued through the intermediate sprints and finish. EF Pro Cycling lie second with 68 points while Alpecin-Fenix are third on 62 points ahead of NTT Pro Cycling on 61.
The first stage of the men's Tour for All saw the virtual peloton – consisting of nine teams of five riders each – tackle 53km of a flat circuit race of the Zwift Innsbruck circuit.
Six laps were on the menu, with each lap 8.8km long, featuring a punchy climb midway through, a cobbled section which would increase resistance on rider's home trainers, and an intermediate sprint.
The race saw a quiet start until things sprung into life on lap 3. There, a small group of 15 riders got away. Van der Poel, Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) were among the star riders to make the move.
The big-name trio were joined by Ovett and Morin, as well as Itamar Einhorn and Alex Cataford (Israel Start-Up Nation), Mitch Docker, Julius van den Berg (EF Pro Cycling), Fred Wright (Bahrain McLaren), Pier-Andre Cote and John Murphy (Rally Cycling), Rasmus Tiller and Ryan Gibbons (NTT), and Alex Richardson (Alpecin-Fenix) out front.
By the fourth lap, the work of Ryan Gibbons (NTT Pro Cycling) had given his team a big lead in the team classification, with the squad picking up 22 sprint points with two to go. EF Pro Cycling lay in second with 10 points, while Gibbons was there again on the penultimate lap to grab five more.
Richardson slipped away using the ghost powerup as the ticker hit 10km to go, taking a six-second lead as he passed the finish line for the penultimate time at the 8.8km mark. The Brit was caught by a slimmed-down chase group with 6km to race, as Cataford countered heading into the climb.
The Canadian was brought back and spat out the back on that final hill, though the remainder of the group had stuck together. Wright was the next man to go, pushing on in the final kilometre but couldn't stick the move.
With 500 metres to go, Uran launched a late move, with a handful of riders chasing him. Among them was Ovett, who timed his sprint just right to come through and take the victory.
Results
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Israel Start-Up Nation | 88 |
2 | EF Pro Cycling | 68 |
3 | NTT Pro Cycling | 63 |
4 | Alpecin-Fenix | 62 |
5 | Cofidis | 38 |
6 | Rally Cycling | 34 |
7 | Bahrain McLaren | 25 |
8 | Mitchelton-Scott | 20 |
9 | CCC Team | 12 |
10 | Groupama-FDJ | 5 |
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling | 43 |
2 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling | 27 |
3 | Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix | 27 |
4 | Freddy Ovett (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation | 27 |
5 | Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis | 25 |
6 | Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain McLaren | 25 |
7 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | 24 |
8 | Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling | 23 |
9 | Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix | 21 |
10 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 21 |
11 | Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Pro Cycling | 20 |
12 | Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation | 20 |
13 | Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling | 18 |
14 | Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation | 14 |
15 | Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | 14 |
16 | John Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling | 11 |
17 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 10 |
18 | Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott | 9 |
19 | Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team | 8 |
20 | Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis | 7 |
21 | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis | 6 |
22 | Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 5 |
23 | Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team | 4 |
24 | Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation | 3 |
25 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling | 2 |
26 | Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | 1 |
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Freddy Ovett (Aus) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
2 | Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis | |
3 | Mathieu Van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix | |
4 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling | |
5 | Pier-Andre Cote (Can) Rally Cycling | |
6 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling | |
7 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
8 | Alexandar Richardson (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix | |
9 | Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain McLaren | |
10 | Mitchell Docker (Aus) EF Pro Cycling | |
11 | Julius Van den Berg (Ned) EF Pro Cycling | |
12 | Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
13 | Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
14 | Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling | |
15 | John Murphy (USA) Rally Cycling | |
16 | Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | |
17 | Alexander Konychev (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott | |
18 | Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team | |
19 | Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis | |
20 | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis | |
21 | Léo Vincent (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
22 | Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team | |
23 | Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
24 | Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) NTT Pro Cycling | |
25 | Alexander Edmondson (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott | |
26 | Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) NTT Pro Cycling | |
27 | Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain McLaren | |
28 | Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis | |
29 | Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team | |
30 | Michael Carbel (Den) NTT Pro Cycling | |
31 | Roy Jans (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix | |
32 | Matej Mohoric (Slo) Bahrain McLaren | |
33 | Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | |
34 | Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team | |
35 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) EF Pro Cycling | |
36 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis | |
37 | Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team |
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.
Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.
As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees How to Watch guides and works on The Leadout newsletter throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix and their favourite published article is from the 2024 edition of the latter: 'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix
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