2014 Tour of Alberta Stage 1: Ruben Zepuntke wins on a wet day in Lethbridge
The temperature at the start was 9 C, rain and wind lashing the course. Rain jackets were de rigueur. The riders had six laps of approximately 23 km to race, each circuit with a clamber up steep Stafford Drive. Simon Yates (Great Britain/Orica-GreenEdge) was the first man to take the king of the mountain points on Stafford Drive.
A 12-man breakaway eventually was whittled down to the trio of Matthew Hayman (Australia/Orica-GreenEdge), recent USA Pro Challenge stage winner Robin Carpenter (USA/Hincapie Development) and Zepuntke’s Belgian teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck. The escapees opened a gap of 4:30 as Belkin and Giant-Shimano whipped along the peloton.
Though the fugitives still had a 4:00 lead with two laps to go, Giant-Shimano got down to work. The gap shrank and on the penultimate climb up Stafford Drive Van Hooydonck fell back. With Garmin-Sharp’s contributing to the pace, the remaining breakaway duo was caught with 6 km to go.
There goes @RobinmCarpenter and Mathew Hayman. Last lap boys!!! @TourOfAlberta pic.twitter.com/MHl1uQj6CS
— Canadian Cycling Mag (@CDNCyclingMag) September 3, 2014
Going over the top of the Stafford Drive climb, Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEdge) and Dumoulin created a Dutch duo at the front, but they were soon joined by 12 other riders. Daniel Eaton (USA/Bissel Development) bolted on the others but was overwhelmed within 2 km to the line.
The finishing group grew before the final sprint, creating a mist in the final 200 m, and for nearly a minute the riders who contested the win didn’t know who had prevailed. It was German Ruben Zepuntke holding off Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania/Garmin-Sharp) for the win. Ryan Anderson of Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies came third and became the top Canadian at 7th.
Zepuntke commented after the finish, “It was a hard race. The rain was the reason. I’m good in rain and cold so it was good for me. Crossing the finish line I thought I was second but then the cameramen and reporters started coming towards me so that’s when I realized I was the winner.”
Like Zepuntke, new red jersey wearer Anderson had thoughts about the conditions: “The weather was a challenge. I felt good on the first lap, got warmed up but on the second lap got cold. The team brought me warm clothes and that helped a lot. I fell short of my goal but am happy to podium.”
Gord Fraser, the director for the national team, didn’t seem pleased with how things went for the guys in the maple-leaf jerseys. “We had some tough conditions today,” Fraser said,” and we are disappointed to miss the front split. We look forward to better weather tomorrow.”
Thursday’s 145.3-km stage from Innisfail to Red Deer ends with three laps in downtown Red Deer and should be another one for the sprinters.
2014 Tour of Alberta Stage 1
1) Ruben Zepuntke (Germany/Bissell Development) 3:18:03
2) Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania/Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
3) Ryan Anderson (Canada/Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) s.t.
2014 Tour of Alberta GC
1) Tom Dumoulin (The Netherlands/Giant Shimano) 3:24:09
2) Ruben Zepuntke (Germany/Bissell Development) +0:06
3) Sergei Tvetcov (Romania/Jelly Belly) +0:14
7) Ryan Anderson (Canada/Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) +0:19
