Edwin Avila (Team Illuminate) held off the peloton for most of the day to capture Stage 1 at the 2017 Sibiu Cycling Tour.
The 19 teams competing at the 2017 Sibiu Cycling Tour departed from Sibiu, Romania on Stage 1, and rode north into the Transylvanian countryside.
The Stage 1 route took the peloton 212 Kilometers from the city of Sibiu, through the countryside and the towns of Blaj and Miercurea Sibiului, before ending up back near the Sibiu city center.
The riders would face seven climbs of over 100 meters throughout the stage, and three intermediate sprint checkpoints were up for grabs.
Moritz Fussnegger (0711 Cycling) was able to lead the peloton to the first summit 7.3 kilometers into the race, and take the first mountains classification points of the day. Fussnegger was able to capture the second climb of the day 31 kilometers in to the stage at Seica Mica as well, ahead of Edwin Avila and Gabriel Lezica (Tusnad). At this point, Fussnegger, Avila, and Lezica had built a small gap of 45 seconds ahead of the peloton.
46 kilometers into the stage, Gabriel Lezica was dropped by the lead group and caught by the peloton, while Fussnegger and Avila built up their lead on the pack to 1 minute.
The riders reached the first intermediate sprint in the town of Blaj, 55 kilometers into the stage. Avila beat Fussnegger to the intermediate sprint, capturing a 100 Euro bonus. By the time the peloton reached Blaj, the rain started to come and the peloton slowed significantly in the dangerous weather while Avila and Fussnegger created a 6 minute gap on the field.
Fussnegger captured his third point in the mountains at Cergaul Mare, while the two-man breakaway group rode almost 8 minutes ahead of the peloton.
100 kilometers into the race at Vingard, Fussnegger lost his first mountain summit of the stage to Avila, but attacked soon after to create a small gap ahead of Avila and capture the Spring climb.
With 80 kilometers to the finish, the peloton quickly picked up the tempo and reduced their gap to Fussnegger and Avila to 4 minutes, as Avila beat out Fussnegger on the sixth climb of the day up Presaca.
Avila would take the final climb and the final intermediate sprint points ahead of Fussnegger, as it began to rain once again in the final 30 kilometers.
20 kilometers from the finish in Sibiu, Fussnegger could no longer hold off the pack as he was caught by the peloton, while Avila confidently took his lead from the chase group with a 4 minute cushion.
Avila's lead on the field would slowly be whittled down by the peloton, but the Team Illuminate rider was able to keep his distance and solo to victory on Stage 1.
The race for second came down to a bunch sprint from the peloton, as Michael Grosu (Romania) was able to beat out the rest of the chase pack and take second on the stage. Simone Ponzi (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Fabio Tommassini (d'Amico-Utensilnord), and Nicklas Pedersen rounded out the top-five.
For his outstanding day in the saddle, Edwin Avila will wear the yellow leaders jersey, as well as leading in the points classification.
Mortiz Fussnegger will wear the green jersey as leader of the mountains classification for his efforts on Stage 1, while Gasper Katrasnik (Adria Mobil) will lead the youth rider classification.
Team Illuminate will hold the lead in the team classification after Stage 1, ahead of Androni Giacattoli-Sidermec and CCC Sprandi Polkowice.
Stage 2 will once again depart from Sibiu, and take the peloton 160 kilometers before finishing at the summit on Balea Lac.
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