Image 1 of 33 Zdenek Stybar (Etixx - Quick Step) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 2 of 33 Mark Renshaw (Etixx - Quick Step) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 3 of 33 Elia Viviani won stage one of the Tour of Britain after a day of heavy rain and strong winds. (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 4 of 33 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 5 of 33 Elia Viviani (Team Sky) makes his way to the podium after his win (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 6 of 33 Peloton during stage 1 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 7 of 33 Bradley Wiggins goes to sign in (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 8 of 33 Nairo Quintana (Movistar) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 9 of 33 Giordana riders at the start (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 10 of 33 Roman van Uden crosses the line on foot after crashing (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 11 of 33 Roman van Uden crosses the line on foot after crashing (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 12 of 33 Shane Sutton and Dave Brailsford (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 13 of 33 Sky's Shane Sutton (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 14 of 33 Viviana also leads the points competition (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 15 of 33 Team UK Youth at the start (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 16 of 33 The Omega bus outside Drumlanrig castle (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 17 of 33 The Sky bus was popular (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 18 of 33 The sprint finish at stage one (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 19 of 33 Kristian House leads the KOM (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 20 of 33 Kristian House leads the day's break (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 21 of 33 Garmin riders at the start of stage one (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 22 of 33 Aaron Gates (Post Chain Reaction) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 23 of 33 Nairo Quintana (Movistar) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 24 of 33 Bernhard Eisel (Team Sky) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 25 of 33 Bernhard Eisel (Team Sky) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 26 of 33 Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 27 of 33 Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 28 of 33 Elia Viviani wins the opening stage of the Tour of Britain (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 29 of 33 The Garmin riders after the crash (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 30 of 33 Elia Viviani (Cannondale) on the podium (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 31 of 33 Matthew Hayman and Ian Stannard lead Sky's chase in the pouring rain (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 32 of 33 Elia Viviani (Cannondale) on the podium (Image credit: Rob Lampard) Image 33 of 33 First race leader Elia Viviani (Cannondale) (Image credit: Rob Lampard)

Elia Viviani (Cannondale) won the opening stage of the Tour of Britain, beating Alessandro Petacchi (Omega Pharma QuickStep) and Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) to the line after 201km of racing from Peebles to Drumlanrig Castle.

The Italian timed his sprint to perfection, coming through to take the win as a number of sprinters found themselves either boxed in or too slow to react.

Britain's Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was too far back to contest the sprint for the win but finished safely in the main back. However a crash on the line did take down a number of riders.

Kristian House (Rapha Condor), Christophe Laborie (Sojasun), Aaron Gate (AN Post Chain Reaction), Peter Hawkins (IG Sigma Sport) and Ben Greenwood (IG Sigma Sport) formed the earlier stage move.

They built up a lead of over five minutes over the undulating terrain. Weather conditions played their part, with rain and blustery winds hammering the riders and with 100km to go the five riders had lost almost half of their lead.

Sky and Omega Pharma-QuickStep commanded the head of the peloton for much of the stage but when the leaders were closed to within 50 seconds with 44km of racing remaining Sojasun played their second card, with Anthony Delaplace skipping away from the bunch and then the break.

The Frenchman was not on the original start list for the race but his intent was a clear indication of why his team had brought him as he built up a lead approaching 45 seconds. Out of the saddle through the Scottish countryside, Omega ushered Iljo Keisse into position at the front of the peloton. The Belgian track specialist was given reinforcements in the form of Bernhard Eisel and his Sky teammates but Delaplace’s urgency through the tight, twisting road meant that his advantage reached 1:32 with less than 30km remaining.

As he approached Drumlanrig Castle, Sky’s efforts had reduced the Frenchman’s lead to just over a minute. However as the Frenchman began to lose his momentum his lead dropped to 28 seconds with 15km remaining.

When Delaplace was caught, Alex Dowsett (Movistar) launched a surprising attack with 12km to go. The British time trial champion was reeled in soon after but his move brought a number of teams into play, with Garmin and Cannondale moving to the front.

It was Garmin who dominated the front of the field inside the final 5km, perhaps well aware of how their sprinter Tyler Farrar crashed out of the race last year.

Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 6:04:43 2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 4 Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 5 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 6 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Sojasun 7 Shane Archbold (NZl) An Post-Chainreaction 8 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Great Britain 9 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 10 James Williamson (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 11 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Madison Genesis 12 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 13 Dean Downing (GBr) Madison Genesis 14 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura 15 Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Team UK Youth 16 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling 17 Nicolas Vereecken (Bel) An Post-Chainreaction 18 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Team Raleigh 19 Yanto Barker (GBr) Team UK Youth 20 Michael James Northey (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 21 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 22 Owain Doull (GBr) Great Britain 23 Thomas Scully (NZl) Team Raleigh 24 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team 25 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 26 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling 27 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 28 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 29 Robert Partridge (GBr) Team UK Youth 30 Michael Cuming (GBr) RCJ 31 Mark Mcnally (GBr) An Post-Chainreaction 32 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Team Raleigh 33 Simon Yates (GBr) Great Britain 34 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 35 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) MTN-Qhubeka 36 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling 37 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 38 Sean Downey (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction 39 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp-Endura 40 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 41 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Sojasun 42 Steven Lampier (GBr) Node 4-Giordana Racing 43 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 44 David Lelay (Fra) Sojasun 45 Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team NetApp-Endura 46 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 47 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 48 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 49 Jonathan Mould (GBr) Team UK Youth 50 Peter Williams (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 51 Marc De Maar (AHo) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 52 Richard Handley (GBr) RCJ 53 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 54 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 55 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 56 Thomas Moses (GBr) Team Raleigh 57 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 58 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) Team UK Youth 59 Adam Yates (GBr) Great Britain 60 Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp 61 Liam Holohan (GBr) Madison Genesis 62 Shem Rodger (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 63 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 64 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:00:52 65 Nicolò Martinello (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 66 Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 67 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 68 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 69 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:00:54 70 James Moss (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 71 Wouter Sybrandy (Ned) Team IG-Sigma Sport 72 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 73 Mathew Cronshaw (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 74 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 75 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 0:01:26 76 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 77 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp 78 Kristian House (GBr) RCJ 0:01:30 79 Will Stephenson (GBr) RCJ 0:01:31 80 Meran Russan (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka 81 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Sojasun 0:01:34 82 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura 83 Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) Team NetApp-Endura 84 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Team Raleigh 85 Hugh Carthy (GBr) RCJ 0:01:55 86 Ian Bibby (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:01:56 87 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 88 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 89 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 90 Lucas Euser (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 91 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp 92 Peter Hawkins (Irl) Team IG-Sigma Sport 93 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling 94 Alistair Slater (GBr) Great Britain 95 Roman Van Uden (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 96 Ferekalsi Debesay Abrha (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka 97 Dominic Jelfs (Irl) Madison Genesis 98 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura 99 Alex Peters (GBr) Madison Genesis 100 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 101 Joshua Edmondson (GBr) Sky Procycling 102 George Atkins (GBr) Great Britain 103 Aaron Gate (NZl) An Post-Chainreaction 104 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 105 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 106 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Raleigh 107 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun 108 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun 109 Luke Grivell-Mellor (GBr) RCJ 110 Chris Opie (GBr) Team UK Youth 111 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 112 Sam Bennett (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction 113 Daniel Barry (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 114 Jim Songezo (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka

General classification after stage 1 # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 6:04:33 2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:04 3 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 0:00:06 4 Aaron Gate (NZl) An Post-Chainreaction 5 Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun 6 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun 0:00:07 7 Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:08 8 Peter Hawkins (Irl) Team IG-Sigma Sport 9 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:09 10 Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 0:00:10 11 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 12 Evaldas Siskevicius (Lit) Sojasun 13 Shane Archbold (NZl) An Post-Chainreaction 14 Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Great Britain 15 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp 16 James Williamson (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 17 Andrew Tennant (GBr) Madison Genesis 18 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 19 Dean Downing (GBr) Madison Genesis 20 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura 21 Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Team UK Youth 22 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling 23 Nicolas Vereecken (Bel) An Post-Chainreaction 24 Evan Oliphant (GBr) Team Raleigh 25 Yanto Barker (GBr) Team UK Youth 26 Michael James Northey (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 27 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 28 Owain Doull (GBr) Great Britain 29 Thomas Scully (NZl) Team Raleigh 30 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team 31 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 32 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling 33 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 34 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN-Qhubeka 35 Robert Partridge (GBr) Team UK Youth 36 Michael Cuming (GBr) RCJ 37 Mark Mcnally (GBr) An Post-Chainreaction 38 Lachlan Norris (Aus) Team Raleigh 39 Simon Yates (GBr) Great Britain 40 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 41 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) MTN-Qhubeka 42 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling 43 Sean Downey (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction 44 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp-Endura 45 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 46 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Sojasun 47 Steven Lampier (GBr) Node 4-Giordana Racing 48 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling 49 David Lelay (Fra) Sojasun 50 Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team NetApp-Endura 51 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 52 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 53 Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 54 Jonathan Mould (GBr) Team UK Youth 55 Peter Williams (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 56 Marc De Maar (Ant) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 57 Richard Handley (GBr) RCJ 58 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar Team 59 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 60 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 61 Thomas Moses (GBr) Team Raleigh 62 Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 63 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) Team UK Youth 64 Adam Yates (GBr) Great Britain 65 Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp 66 Liam Holohan (GBr) Madison Genesis 67 Shem Rodger (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 68 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling 69 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 70 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 71 James Moss (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 72 Wouter Sybrandy (Ned) Team IG-Sigma Sport 73 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 74 Mathew Cronshaw (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 75 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 76 Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura 77 Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) Team NetApp-Endura 78 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Team Raleigh 79 Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 80 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 81 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox 82 Lucas Euser (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 83 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp 84 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling 85 Alistair Slater (GBr) Great Britain 86 Roman Van Uden (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 87 Ferekalsi Debesay Abrha (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka 88 Dominic Jelfs (Irl) Madison Genesis 89 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura 90 Alex Peters (GBr) Madison Genesis 91 John Murphy (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 92 Joshua Edmondson (GBr) Sky Procycling 93 George Atkins (GBr) Great Britain 94 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team 95 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 96 Mark Christian (GBr) Team Raleigh 97 Luke Grivell-Mellor (GBr) RCJ 98 Chris Opie (GBr) Team UK Youth 99 Ben Greenwood (GBr) Team IG-Sigma Sport 100 Sam Bennett (Irl) An Post-Chainreaction 101 Daniel Barry (NZl) Node 4-Giordana Racing 102 Jim Songezo (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka 103 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp 0:00:30 104 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 0:01:02 105 Nicolò Martinello (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 106 Philip Deignan (Irl) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team 107 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 0:01:04 108 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 0:01:36 109 Kristian House (GBr) RCJ 0:01:38 110 Will Stephenson (GBr) RCJ 0:01:41 111 Meran Russan (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka 112 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Sojasun 0:01:44 113 Hugh Carthy (GBr) RCJ 0:02:05 114 Ian Bibby (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:02:06

Points classification # Rider Name (Country) Team 1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling

Mountains classification # Rider Name (Country) Team 1 Kristian House (GBr) RCJ

Sprint classification # Rider Name (Country) Team 1 Aaron Gate (NZl) An Post-Chainreaction