Terrier upbeat after stage one of the Tour of Hellas

Team Novo Nordisk hit the opening stage of the Tour of Hellas with intent, with French climber Lucas Dauge part of the early attacks trying to get into the breakaway before compatriot Lucas Terrier tried his luck in the fast finale.

The first day of racing covered 171.6km from Ioannina to Agrinio and began aggressively, with numerous attempts at forming a breakaway coming from the peloton. Dauge tried his luck in a nine-rider move that was brought back before eight riders finally slipped away after 50km of racing.

With a finale favouring the punchy sprinters, the break never looked likely to stay away, and the front of the race came back together in the closing kilometres. Neo-pro Terrier found himself a few seconds behind the leaders at the line.

“It was a really hectic day with a lot of tension from kilometre zero for the breakaway,” said Terrier. “It stayed tense all the way to the finish in Agrinio. We knew today would be a sprint, but we still wanted to try for the break — Lucas got caught, so then we sat in the peloton in a good position as a team.”

“The last 25km were super nervous. I tried to get a good spot all along the way, but the peloton split towards the end and I tried to make the jump to the first group — but it was too late and I finished a few seconds back on the leaders.”