Stage 1: Herning to Herning, 8.7km individual time trial

Stage profile: An 8.7km individual time trial around the streets of Herning, the home-town of Saxo Bank team owner Bjarne Riis. The first part of the course is twisty and technical, while the second half is more flowing and favours more traditional powerful time trial specialists.

Top three: 1. Taylor Phinney (BMC), 2. Geraint Thomas (Sky), 3. Alex Rasmussen (Garmin-Barracuda).

How the stage was won: The stage was always tipped to be a battle between Geraint Thomas and Taylor Phinney in this opening ITT and they did not disappoint. Phinney smashed Thomas’s time by nine seconds and Alex Rasmussen came in just four seconds off Thomas’ time. Continue reading →