Britain’s Ben Swift was fifth place on stage five of the 2014 Friends Life Tour of Britain as Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling) took a fine solo victory in Exeter.
Brandle was among four riders who broke away early and evaded the chase before attacking alone on the final climb of Stoke Hill, just kilometres from the finish.
Team Sky’s Sir Bradley Wiggins finished safely in the bunch alongside race leader Michal Kwiatkowski while teammate Swift contested the bunch sprint for minor placings with Bardiani CSF’s Sonny Colbrelli.
Stage five took riders on a 177.3-kilometre loop through Dartmoor. Starting at Exmouth on the south coast, the route took in three climbs: the second category ramp of Mamhead at 38 kilometres followed by the day’s toughest test at Haytor.
The first-category climb was the scene of Simon Yates’ memorable summit victory in 2013, but this year the race rolled on through Dartmoor with a final second category climb at Stoke Hill just a few kilometres from the finish in the centre of Exeter.
On the way sprint points were available at Powderham Castle, Chudleigh and Crediton.
After an early and fruitless attempt by Alex Dowsett to put stage four’s woes behind him, the day’s defining break quickly formed. Andreas Stauff (MTN Qhubeka), Matthias Brandle (IAM Cycling), Maarten Wynants (Belkin Pro Cycling) and Shane Archbold (An Post Chain Reaction) went clear with the race less than 15 minutes old and began to build a lead of over three minutes.
With none of the four riders in the hunt in the Yodel sprints and Skoda king of the mountains points, the first two climbs and sprints passed by without contest, but behind, mountains jersey holder Mark McNally showed his colours at the front of the group at Mamhead to keep his lead topped up.
Over the summit of Haytor the leaders’ advantage reached its peak while behind, the peloton, headed by overall leader Michal Kwiatkowski’s Omega Pharma-Quick Step squad, kept a watching brief as the kilometres ticked by on dry roads under blue skies.
The race passed through Soughton with 57 kilometres to go and Garmin Sharp had joined Omega Pharma-Quick Step at the front of the peloton, with an eye on a stage victory for that had so far eluded them.
With the combined power of two World Tour teams the breakaway lead tumbled to a minute and a half with 50 kilometres remaining as the race passed through Okehampton.
But 20 kilometres closer to the finish, the lead was back to over two and a half minutes and it was clear that the leading quartet meant business.
It was also clear that a concerted effort was required prevent the first breakaway victory of the 2014 race.
As the race flashed through the final sprint in Crediton with 16 kilometres to go the advantage was still over two minutes and behind Garmin Sharp continued to commit bodies to the chase.
At ten kilometres to go Bardiani CSF took up the chase as Garmin Sharp capitulated and the leaders started to believe that stage victory was within their grasp.
The leaders still had a minute on the field as they hit the foot of Stoke Hill and behind the battle ignited with Dylan van Baarle of Garmin Sharp attacking from the peloton.
Up ahead the breakaway fractured with Brandle going clear. Down the road the attacks continued, with Tinkoff Saxo’s Nicholas Roche trying his hand.
Brandle soldiered on, summiting the climb with 25 seconds lead and committing fully on the technical descent into Exeter, taking a finely wrought victory on a packed Exeter High Street. Shane Archbold took second place with Wynants third.
Following the stage Team Sky sports director Nicholas Portal commented on Swift's performance and the tactics the team employed to keep Wiggins in with a fighting chance of the overall lead.
“We just missed out on the stage win but the team did well out there today," Portal confirmed, speaking to the Team Sky website.
“In the final it was hard to close the gap without giving Kwiatkowski a platform to gain more time. We wanted to try and win the stage without compromising the GC with Bradley. That’s difficult to do.
“Swifty did a good sprint and was second from the bunch. Bradley stayed on the same time. It’s tough to beat a guy like Kwiatkowski but we'll keep going.”
Stage six takes sees the riders face 205.6 kilometres from Bath to Hemel Hempstead. Follow live updates from every stage of the Tour of Britain on the British Cycling website.
Results
Stage five
General classification after stage five
