Halfords Tour Series gets underway as Gibb sprints home to victory

The Halfords Tour Series is a round city-centre cycling race series, bringing road racing to city centres across the UK. 10 teams of 5 cyclists are visiting 10 city centres from the 25 May 2010 to battle to become the champion of The Tour Series.ome the overall champions of The Tour Series.
Each night the teams race to place their top 3 riders in the highest positions at the end of 1 hour of intense riding.

Stage One saw the teams battle it out under the sprawling metropolis of Canary Wharf in the heart of the Capital’s business centre. The traditional mountain peaks of a Tour were traded for the peaks of 1 Canada Square and its neighbouring colossal skyscrapers. As the action got underway, a bustle for a breakaway began, with Yanto Barker enjoying a brief solo escape, before the peloton brought him back into the fold once more.

In the closing laps, the peloton fractured to leave a group of riders from Endura Racing, Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta and Rapha – Condor – Sharp clear, the hope of the leading advantage paying off at the finish. Once again the peloton hungry for victory on the opening stage brought them back as they entered the final five.
Holohan, Briggs, Gibb and Australian duo Dean Windsor and Casey Munro grabbed the intermediate sprint points but it was Gibb who edged passed Motorpoint – Marshalls Pasta’s Malcolm Elliott in the scramble for the sprint-finish to take the first victory. Behind Elliott, Dean Downing brought home teammates Dean Windsor (fifth) and Graham Briggs (sixth), sealing a win for the Rapha – Condor – Sharp team, while Liam Holohan of the Raleigh team became the first rider to lead the Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition.

Tomorrows stage comes from the Northern University City of Durham.