Askey masters tactical and selective finale on Tour of Britain stage 1

Lewis Askey (NSN) claimed victory on the opening stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain in Lincoln after an explosive effort inside the final kilometre.

The opening stage took place around Lincoln, with a finishing circuit centred around the steep cobbled Michaelgate climb. 

Things would become selective after an ascent of the climb with 40km remaining, and eventually the head of the race whittled down to an 11-rider group.

The group included Elliot Rowe (Great Britain), Paul Wright (Modern Adventure), Rick Pluimers and Matteo Trentin (Tudor), Lewis Askey (NSN), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Filippo Ganna and Kim Heiduk (Netcompany-Ineos), Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Daan Hoole (Decathlon CMA CGM).

Inside the final 10km, the games began to ramp up with multiple attacks as the weather threatened to worsen, with the final ascent of the Michaegate climb. 

Alarm bells started to ring when Trentin rolled off the front with 3.5km remaining as Wright followed, but the rest started to briefly look at one another. However, the gap was quickly closed before the riders once more began to play games. 

This allowed Wellens to wind up an attack from the back of the group with 3km to go, which Pluimers followed. Behind it was Ganna, who used his strength to close the gap. 

But UAE used their strength in depth, as Vermeersch launched a counter attack with 2.2km remaining. A prolonged moment of hesitation saw the Belgian open a 15-second gap by the flamme rouge as the final climb began. 

However, it was Askey who motored up the climb, distancing the chasers before flying past Vermeersch and holding off a chase from Ganna to take a special victory, after the race had paid tribute to Finlay Tarling before the start. 

Two seconds behind Askey, it would be Ganna who took second with Wellens on his wheel for third, while Stuyven brought home the next group at nine seconds. 

With bonus seconds picked up during the stage, Askey leads the GC by nine seconds from Ganna, with Wellens in third at 11 seconds.

“It’s amazing, especially to have my grandparents there. It was super special to have everyone there at the finish,” said Askey post-race to reporters including Domestique.

“To win bike races is why I ride my bike, it’s that super special feeling. It’s great when you come second, come third and do good performances, but there’s nothing that quite matches managing to put your hands up in the air.”

“It was a really good atmosphere on the [Michaelgate] climb,” he added. “I knew that’s an effort that suits me perfectly. It’s brutal, but it was not a bad effort for me personally, so I was looking forward to it.”

I didn’t really believe that much towards the last two laps, because I knew there were teams with multiple riders, and that’s a really hard situation. I think I did a good job of managing it.”