Tour of Denmark begins
The 20th edition of the Tour of Denmark began on August 4 with a 175km stage in Holstebro. The six-stage UCI Continental Circuit race hosts 15 teams with eight riders each. As of the second stage, four of the top-10 spots are held by HTC-Columbia, including Matt Goss in second place, five seconds behind overall leader Michael Van Stayen. Mark Renshaw, who was famously disqualified from the Tour de France this year for head-butting, is in the top-5 in points and in the overall classification. Jakob Fuglsang, of Team Saxo Bank, won the previous two editions of the race, making him the only rider to win the Tour of Denmark more than once, and as of stage two the defending champion stands in 10th overall.
23-year-old Goss took the opening stage of the Danish race ahead of Van Stayen and Renshaw, the trio leading a 59-rider bunch sprint over the finish line at the end of a crash-filled stage.
"There were three laps of 3.5 kilometres at the finish and it was very technical," said Brian Holm, the director of Team HTC-Columbia. "One of our riders crashed on the finishing circuit as it started raining very heavily, and that meant we knew we had to stay at the front. Coming up to the sprint, there were a lot of crashes too in the closing kilometres, but Goss got through them ok for the win. I'm very pleased for him."
New Team RadioShack rider Taylor Phinney suffered a crash with Garmin-Transitions rider Tyler Farrar, who dropped out of the Tour de France this year after the 12th stage due to a fractured wrist. It was uncertain whether Phinney would continue, but he made it through the 170km second stage from Vildbjerg to Randers on Thursday.
“I crashed pretty hard on my knee yesterday and was riding through the pain today, but my legs are feeling good otherwise I had really good preparation for the race,” said Phinney. “I’m hoping that my knee doesn’t become a big issue and that I can push on and try and get some results in this race.”
Michael Van Stayen finished the first stage in second place, and finished the second in first, ahead of Fuglsang’s teammate Matti Breschel. The performance earned Van Stayen a time bonus which won him the overall race leadership after the stage, five seconds ahead of Goss and 10 ahead of Breschel. Fuglsang attempted an attack and managed to lead the race ahead of Renshaw during the finishing circuits, but they were both absorbed into the bunch finish.
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