Britain’s Jon Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) has won the first stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean.
The Plymouth rider, who won the King of the Mountains competition in last year’s Tour of Britain, jumped clear on an uphill finish in Meyreuil.
His victory came at the expense of Belarusian sprinter, Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-Big Mat), who finished second, and third placed Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar).
Tiernan-Locke said: “Rene [Mandri] rode for 10km in the wind for me towards the end and kept me in a great position as we went over the hill around 5km to the line.
“I dropped back a little bit on the descent, but came back towards the front. I didn’t really attack, but just rode them off my wheel. I wasn’t sure if I’d won, so didn’t go for a big celebration!”
Endura Racing, one of six British-registered UCI Continental teams, achieved the victory amid a peloton containing seven WorldTour teams.
The British squad, led by ambitious manager, Brian Smith, and backed by the Scottish cycle clothing company, will race on home soil in key domestic events this year, as well as in events on the UCI EuropeTour calendar.
Tiernan-Locke leads the race by four seconds from Hutarovich and will wear the yellow jersey on tomorrow’s 136 kilometre stage from Salon de Provence to Martigues.
