Tour of Denmark 2021 - Dylan Groenewegen holds off Mark Cavendish to secure victory in opening stage

ByEurosport

Updated 10/08/2021 at 18:29 GMT

“That was a strong sprint from Dylan Groenewegen,” Brian Smith said on Eurosport commentary of the Tour of Denmark. “They rode all day and kept out of trouble. “Dylan Groenwegen opened up his sprint, Cavendish was a little bit more hesitant and on the drag to the finish they went up on equal terms, at the same speed."

Dylan Groenewegen repelled the challenge of Mark Cavendish to take the opening stage of the Tour of Denmark.

In a tight, technical finish, Groenewegen was set up perfectly by his Jumbo-Visma team who led him into the final corner and he held off Cavendish all the way up the short finishing straight into Esbjerg.

Cavendish was back in action following his Tour de France heroics, and he was unable to pull in his sprint rival.

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“That was a strong sprint from Dylan Groenewegen,” Brian Smith said on Eurosport commentary. “They rode all day and kept out of trouble.

“Dylan Groenewegen opened up his sprint, Cavendish was a little bit more hesitant and on the drag to the finish they went up on equal terms, at the same speed.

“That initial kick gave Groenewegen a winning margin and there were no changes in behind.”

'Oh no!' - Narrow road leads to major crash

Groenewegen appeared to have the stronger legs, as Cavendish did not close on the run to the line, but the Manxman was not helped by a mechanical problem for his Deceuninck-QuickStep leadout man Michael Morkov with 15kms to go.

It was a crash-laden opening stage, with defending champion Niklas Larsen receiving medical attention in the final 15kms.

The Tour of Denmark will hand the sprinters a second chance on Stage 2 from Ribe to Sonderborg.

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