Pascal Ackermann powered to victory in the opening stage of the Tour of Germany in Halberstadt on Thursday as the overall race favourites finished safely in the peloton.
Ackermann, who won the points classification at the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, edged out Alexander Kristoff and Simone Consonni at the end of the 167km ride from Hanover.
Ackermann leads the early overall standings by four seconds from Kristoff due to the bonus seconds for victory.
Former Tour de France champions Geraint Thomas and Vincenzo Nibali finished without trouble on a sedate day, although Julian Alaphilippe did test himself with a brief acceleration as he warms up for next month’s world championships in Yorkshire.
“It was my recovery after a good little break and I felt very good,” said the Frenchman. “I’m happy to finish in the peloton… I attacked for myself, to see how I felt.”
Friday’s hilly second stage from Marburg to Goettingen is the longest of the race at 202km.
Deutschland Tour 2019 – stage 1 results (Hannover – Halberstadt):
| 1 | Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) | 3:49:30 |
| 2 | Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 3 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 4 | Cees Bol (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 5 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 6 | Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 7 | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 8 | Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 9 | Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 10 | Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrian-Merida) | ,, |
Deutschland Tour 2019 – general classification after stage 1:
| 1 | Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) | 3:49:20 |
| 2 | Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) | +04” |
| 3 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | +06” |
| 4 | Tom-Jelte Slagter (Dimension Data) | +08” |
| 5 | Kasper Asgreen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +09” |
| 6 | Cees Bol (Team Sunweb) | +10” |
| 7 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 8 | Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 9 | Nico Denz (AG2R la Mondiale) | ,, |
| 10 | Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
