FORMER Olympic cycling silver medallist Rob Hayles has vowed to hog the headlines on this year's Tour of Britain after getting his campaign off to a flyer in London.
With the tour returning to the capital for the first time in two years, the 35-year-old – who won team sprint silver in Athens four years ago – marked his intentions by finishing the opening 53-mile stage in second.
Italian Alessandro Petacchi too
k the first Yellow Jersey for his LPR Brakes team after beating Hayles and Sweden's Magnus Backstedt to the line.
A host of Great Britain's Beijing Olympic track heroes were on show for a victory lap in London but only Roger Hammond – who failed to finish the road race in the Far East – offered any credibility finishing sixth.
"I'm really happy, I felt like I rode well and I felt really good," he said. "It was a tough race and there was a hugely talented group of riders out there."
Last year's highest-ranked Briton, Edinburgh's Evan Oliphant, suffered opening stage heartache when a punctured tyre forced him to be content with a 35th place finish. Oliphant's 2008 charge went from bad to worse with all-British Plowman Craven teammates Tom Barras and James Millard finishing 79th and 92nd respectively.
But the 26-year-old insists the seventh Scottish stage from Glasgow to Drumlanrig Castle remains his sole focus after a day to forget in London.
"I'm just looking forward to the Scottish stage later in the week," he said.
"For me I'll probably be looking to try to keep a bit in the tank for that stage because it's really important for me to perform in front of my home crowd."
• SEE the race every evening on ITV4 between 8pm and 9pm – or for all the latest information on the Tour head to www.tourofbritain.co.uk
The full article contains 323 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
