Ryan Gibbons takes comprehensive win on Stage 1 of the Virtual Tour de France
ByEurosport
Updated 04/07/2020 at 16:26 GMT
Ryan Gibbons (NTT Pro Cycling) led home a strong field that included Mathieu van der Poel and Greg Van Avermaet to seal victory on Stage 1 of the Virtual Tour de France.
Pier-Andre Cote (Rally) came in second, with Nick Schultz (Mitchelton-Scott) third following the 36.4 km hilly stage on virtual platform Zwift. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) finished fourth and Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) ninth.
"I'm truly overwhelmed," said Gibbons after the race.
It is such a great initiative and it is really exciting to have something like this. Everyone has been missing racing and to not only be part of this but to win it is pretty, pretty special.
Gibbons’ NTT team had been in the lead group for most of the race – four 9.1km laps of Zwift’s Watopia – and it was his team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen who went with Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (CCC) when the Belgian rider made a move in the finishing straight.
However, it was Gibbons who timed his power-up best to sweep past Van Keirsbulck and Boasson Hagen to seal a comfortable win.
STAGE 1 RESULTS
RIDER | TIME | |
1 | Ryan Gibbons (RSA) NTT | 00:45:17 |
2 | Pier-Andre Cote (CAN) Rally | " |
3 | Nick Schultz (AUS) Mitchelton-Scott | 0:00:01 |
4 | Mathieu van der Poel (NED) Alpecin-Fenix | " |
5 | Freddy Ovett (AUS) Israel Start-Up Nation | " |
6 | Edvald Boason Hagen (NOR) NTT | " |
7 | Matteo Dal-Cin (CAN) Rally | " |
8 | Harry Sweeny (AUS) Lotto-Soudal | " |
9 | Greg Van Avermaet (BEL) CCC | * |
10 | Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Ineos | 0:00:02 |
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