The 2025 Tour of Britain opened on Tuesday with a first stage made for the sprinters in Southwold. After a quiet day, the expected sprint took place, and Olav Kooij lived up to status. On home soil, Matt Walls took fifteenth, while the rest of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team finished in the peloton.
The Tour of Britain was set to begin this Tuesday on a profile without the slightest difficulty. After the day’s 160 kilometers, no outcome other than a bunch sprint seemed possible. “So it was a very classic scenario, with a four-man breakaway that went after two kilometres,” said Jérôme Gannat, in command of the Groupama-FDJ on British soil. However, the leading quartet never got more than three minutes of a gap, due to the chase dictated by Visma-Lease a Bike. The pursuit ultimately, and logically, got the better of the breakaway group with six kilometres to go. “Things got a bit tense in the final, and it wasn’t easy to move up because the peloton was taking the width of the road with the headwind,” said Jérôme. In Southwold, the expected sprint took shape and Matt Walls tried to make his way through. “Positioning was important, but we don’t have a train here,” emphasized Jérôme. “We knew Matt would have to handle it on his own in the final kilometres, also because we didn’t want to take too many risks.”
The 27-year-old Briton then tried to navigate as best he could by slipping into the other lead-out trains. “He wasn’t too badly positioned with 1,500 metres to go, but there was a big acceleration up to the 500 metres mark, and he lost a few places,” explained Jérôme. “He did the best he could.” Beyond tenth place coming out of the final corner, the Groupama-FDJ rider was unable to make a comeback in the final straight, having to settle for fifteenth place at the finish line. Olav Kooij claimed victory, while Romain Grégoire and the rest of his teammates finished with the same time. “There are two days left before we reach a terrain that should suit Romain, with whom we’re aiming for a stage win and a good overall ranking,” Jérôme added. Around Stowmarket, the fast riders should again be in the spotlights on Wednesday. Reef Roberts, meanwhile, completed his first day of racing in a ProSeries event with the WorldTour team. “At 18, he’s the youngest rider in the peloton,” Jérôme concluded. “He’s surrounded by experienced riders and he’s going to learn a lot.”
