There was victory for Team Sky in the first stage of The Tour of Britain, but it was Welshman Luke
Rowe who sprinted to victory at a packed Norfolk Showground, taking his first professional win for
Team Sky. Rowe headed home UnitedHealthcare’s Boy Van Poppel, with the two edging clear from Endura’s Russell Downing in the sprint from the final corner.

Rowe’s teammate Mark Cavendish crashed with just over a kilometre to go, going down along with
several other riders on the fringes of the Norfolk Showground to provide a shock winner for the
massed crowds.

“It was pretty incredible to win today to be honest”, said Luke Rowe afterwards. “It was quite
unexpected but this is my biggest win to date so I am rather happy. Coming towards the end of the
race, we had Brad [Bradley Wiggins] on the front and I was behind him and Cav [Mark Cavendish]
was sitting third because we were lining the stage up for him but I looked round when he went down
and shouted to Brad, ‘It’s for me’, so we went full gas. The team did a lot of work today and i know I
can do a good lead out and my responsibility is to get Cav to the finish.”

Sky had worked well to pull back the advantage of a four man break that had formed not long after the
departure from the huge crowds on Ipswich Waterfront that had waved The Tour off through Suffolk
and Norfolk.

With larger than ever crowds lining the route through East Anglia, Kristian House, Jonny Clarke, Rony
Martias and Niels Wytinck built a seven-minute lead, which was steadily whittled down over the latter
100-kilometres of Stage One.

A mid-stage crash split the bunch down to a select group of just under 40 riders, but with Cavendish,
Tyler Farrar and Russ Downing all at the front the scene looked set for a bunch sprint on the Royal
Norfolk Showground, but it was not to be.

Thanks to his sprint, Rowe now leads the race overall by three seconds from the Yodel Sprints Jersey
or Rony Martias, for whom time bonuses earned out on the road elevated him above his finishing
position of sixth, with second placed finisher Van Poppel a further second in arrears.

“The support on the road today was just incredible,” commented Rowe. “I've been racing for the last
10 years and the last five years all over the world but today I've never genuinely seen crowds like
there was today and the faces were all so passionate about the racing and not just standing there.”
The Welsh rider is also looking ahead to the latter stages of the 2012 Tour of Britain, and the chance
to race on familiar roads.

“It’s a race I've always wanted to do so winning today was pretty special. I really wanted to do Stage
Six into Caerphilly because it’s almost in my back garden, actually Caerphilly Mountains is about a
mile from my house and I think my friends and family are coming over to watch.'

Huge crowds lined the route from start to finish throughout East Anglia, as for the third year in
succession The Tour of Britain visited Suffolk and Norfolk. Over 900 amateur cyclists also took on the
challenge of the Stage One route the day before the race, taking part in The Tour Ride East Anglia
sportive, previewing the route ridden by some of the world’s top riders across the two counties.

RESULTS
Stage One, Ipswich to Norfolk Showground, 203km
1) Luke Rowe, GBR, Team Sky, 4:51:05
2) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, same time
3) Russell Downing, GBR, Endura Racing, same time
4) Jeremie Galland, FRA, Saur Sojasun, same time
5) Peter Hawkins, IRL, Team IG - Sigma Sport, same time
6) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, same time
7) Barry Markus, NED, Vacansoleil - DCM, same time
8) Paolo Longo Borghini, ITA, Liquigas - Cannondale, same time
9) Jonathan Tiernan Locke, GBR, Endura Racing, same time
10) Ben Grenda, AUS, Rapha Condor, same time

Rouleur Combativity Award:
Niels Wytnick, AN Post Sean Kelly

IG Gold Jersey, General Classification
1) Luke Rowe, GBR, Team Sky, 4:50::55
2) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, + 0.03
3) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare, + 0.04
4) Russell Downing, GBR, Endura Racing, + 0.06
5) Jeremie Galland, FRA, Saur Sojasun, + 0.10
6) Peter Hawkins, IRL, Team IG - Sigma Sport, same time
7) Barry Markus, NED, Vacansoleil - DCM, same time
8) Paolo Longo Borghini, ITA, Liquigas Cannondale, same time
9) Jonathan Tiernan Locke, GBR, Endura Racing, same time
10) Ben Grenda, AUS, Rapha Condor, same time

Chain Reaction Cycles Points Classification
1) Luke Rowe, GBR, Team Sky, 15pts
2) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, 14pts
3) Russell Downing, GBR, Endura Racing, 13pts
4) Jeremie Galland, FRA, Saur Sojasun, 12pts
5) Peter Hawkins, IRL, Team IG - Sigma Sport, 11pts
6) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, 10pts
7) Barry Markus, NED, Vacansoleil - DCM, 9pts
8) Paolo Longo Borghini, ITA, Liquigas - Cannondale, 8pts
9) Jonathan Tiernan Locke, GBR, Endura Racing, 7pts
10) Ben Grenda, AUS, Rapha Condor, 6pts

SKODA King of the Mountains Classification
1) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 12pts
2) Niels Wytinck, BEL, AN Post Sean Kelly, 9pts
3) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, 4pts
Yodel Sprints Classification
1) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, 12pts
2) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 9pts
3) Jonny Clarke, AUS, UnitedHealthcare, 7pts