Monday 7 September 2015 11:02, UK
Mark Cavendish missed out on victory on the opening stage of the Aviva Tour of Britain after being beaten in a photo finish by Elia Viviani.
Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) initiated the sprint into Wrexham and looked on course to claim both the stage win and race leader's yellow jersey, but as the road veered left in the final 50m, he opted to stay in the centre of the road and Viviani (Team Sky) capitalised by squeezing up the inside.
Andre Greipel (Lotto Soudal) also contested the sprint but never really challenged Cavendish and Viviani and had to settle for third.
Ten, six and four bonus seconds were awarded to the first three riders over the line, meaning Viviani leads second-placed Cavendish in the general classification by four seconds, with Greipel two seconds further adrift in third.
Viviani said: "When Cav go in the middle of the road, I stayed in the left side. It was a really small space. After the line I thought maybe I had won, but I didn't know."
The opening stage of the eight-day race began at Beaumaris in Angelsey and it briefly looked like breakaway riders Tom Stewart (Madison Genesis), Peter Williams (ONE Pro Cycling), Kristian House (JLT-Condor) and Conor Dunne (An Post-Chain Reaction) might stay away to the finish.
Their margin was still more than a minute with 9km remaining, but the peloton finally reeled them in with just over 1km to go.
From there, Cavendish's team-mates Fernando Gaviria and Mark Renshaw guided him into the perfect position for the sprint and although he waited until 150m to accelerate, he was beaten by the width of a tyre and bashed his handlebars in frustration as he crossed the line.
The race continues on Monday with a 159.3km second stages from Clitheroe to Colne. Follow all the action with our live blog from 1pm.
Stage one result
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, 4:26:29
2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Etixx - Quick-Step, same time
3 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, st
4 Owain Doull (GB) WIGGINS, st
5 Juan Jose Lobato (Esp) Movistar, st
6 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal, st
7 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx - Quick-Step, st
8 Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN-Qhubeka, st
9 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, st
10 Graham Briggs (GB) JLT-Condor, st
General classification
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky, 4:26:19
2 Mark Cavendish (GB) Etixx - Quick-Step, +4sec
3 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal, +6
4 Owain Doull (GB) WIGGINS, +10
5 Juan Jose Lobato (Esp) Movistar, same time
6 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto Soudal, st
7 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Etixx - Quick-Step, st
8 Tyler Farrar (USA) MTN-Qhubeka, st
9 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, st
10 Graham Briggs (GB) JLT-Condor, st
