by Anna Magrath | Sep 9, 2016
Steve Cummings crossed the summit of the Haytor climb in Devon and into the Yellow Jersey presented by Eisberg as leader of the Tour of Britain at the end of the sixth stage, as Team Sky’s Wout Poels took the stage win in the South West.
Poels led the way, striking out with 1.5-kilometres to go to cross the summit alone for the victory, his third Tour of Britain stage win.
Behind Team Dimension Data man Cummings was amid a gaggle of chasers, crossing the line alone in eighth, at 21-seconds , but with more than enough in hand over previous race leader Julien Vermote to earn himself a 49-second lead on General Classification over Tom Dumoulin.
Speaking after pulling on the Tour of Britain’s Yellow Jersey presented by Eisberg for the first time, Steve Cummings said;
The team have done an excellent job all week in taking care of me every day and sacrificed chances for Mark [Cavendish] in the sprints to protect me. I was feeling a little bit of pressure coming into today and I just thought all I could do was do my best and I gave it my all at the end and I’m delighted to take Yellow.
I’ve been second twice before in this race, once by four seconds and once by eight seconds I think, so this race is normally won by seconds not minutes. You still have to claw back those seconds and it’s not done until it’s done. The time trial I’ll just give it full gas and hopefully it’ll be enough to hold off the superstar time trialists Dumoulin and Dennis.
Stage 6 ToB2016 Yellow Jersey Holder, Team Dimension Data
In a stage run off in extremely blustery and often wet conditions right from the start at Sidmouth on Devon’s Jurassic Coast the peloton never let the day’s break get more than just over a three minute advantage as the race wended its way across Devon towards the Dartmoor denouement.
With the race together at the foot of the Haytor climb it was BMC Racing’s Rohan Dennis who kicked things off with the first attack, being joined by Tom Dumoulin, Gorka Izagirre and Poels as Vermote was distanced.
At 2.5-kilometres to go Cummings and Tony Gallopin briefly made the junction with the three leaders, before Dennis went again, taking Dumoulin and Poels with him.
The next attack was the tall Dutchman’s, and despite the valiant efforts of the Giant Alpecin and BMC rider they couldn’t do enough to reel him in, allowing the Team Sky man to add victory atop Haytor to his summit finish win on Hartside in Cumbria 12-months previously.
“The last part we took control and we wanted to close the gap to go for the stage victory with me,” said Poels speaking afterwards.
“Yogi [Ian Stannard] and Danny [van Poppel] did a really good job, so I was really happy with that. It’s my sixth [win] of the season already and it’s always nice to win here at the Tour of Britain; last year on the uphill finish and this year again. It’s a really nice race.”
Along with Vermote’s demotion from the overall lead to eleventh overall, Etixx Quick-Step teammate Dan Martin completed a miserable day for the team, dropping from fifth to twelth.
Six riders now lie within a minute of the lead going into the Bristol double-stage, including Olympic Games Time Trial Silver medallist Tom Dumoulin, and 2014 Tour of Britain winner Dylan Van Baarle.
The last of those six Xandro Meurisse extended his lead in the SKODA King of the Mountains classification to 15-points over Nicolas Roche, with just 18 left to play for on the Bristol circuit on Saturday afternoon.
For the sprinters Jasper Bovenhuis enjoyed another productive day in the breakaway to hold an eight point lead over Johnny McEvoy in the Yodel Sprints Jersey, while Dan McLay and Nicola Ruffoni have 29-points a-piece towards the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Classification, with the Brit wearing the blue jersey.
Highlights of Stage Six are on ITV4 at 8pm on Friday 9 September, with a repeat at 1pm on Saturday 10 September.
The Tour of Britain resumes with the Bristol Stage presented by OVO Energy, taking place over a 15-kilometre circuit in Bristol that includes both the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SKODA King of the Mountains climb of Bridge Valley Road.
Riders will contest an individual time trial over one lap of the Bristol circuit from 10:01, before the afternoon sees a six-lap circuit race on the same circuit, finishing on the Clifton Downs where Michal Kwiatowski won a Tour of Britain stage in 2014.
by Anna Magrath | Sep 6, 2016
Ian Stannard soloed to a memorable stage victory in the beautiful surrounds of Tatton Park on the outskirts of Knutsford, as huge crowds lined the route of the first every Cheshire East stage of the Tour of Britain.
The Team Sky man won by nearly two-minutes from breakaway companions Graham Briggs and Kristian House, to lead a British 1-2-3 at the end of the 180-kilometre stage from Congleton, with the peloton racing in over five and a half minutes down.
Overnight leader Julien Vermote retained the Yellow Jersey presented by Eisberg and his six second lead over Steve Cummings, with the other main General Classification positions remaining unchanged.
Speaking afterwards, Stannard, who lives locally to the Stage Three route in Wilmslow said;
I was keen to get away. It’s always nice to win from a breakaway and go solo too. I really enjoyed it today. I knew I want to go over the top of the Cat and Fiddle with about five minutes on the peloton, we’d have a chance on the run-in then. I heard it went out but I didn’t know much more. I was just happy to be up there.
Team Sky
Post race interview with Ian Standard of Team Sky after he soloed to a memorable stage victory in the beautiful surrounds of Tatton Park on the outskirts of Knutsford, as huge crowds lined the route of the first every Cheshire East stage of the Tour of Britain.
After being waved away in front of the biggest crowds of the week so far in the historic market town of Congleton, it was Matt Cronshaw of Madison Genesis who lit the race up, attacking as soon as the race was de-neutralised on the outskirts of town, taking Briggs, House and Stannard with him.
The break was down to three by the time it reached the second SKODA King of the Mountains climb of the Brickworks, with Cronshaw distanced and eventually swept up on the day’s final categorised climb of the Cat & Fiddle.
Over the top of that climb as the route navigated a series of false flats across the moors of the Peak District National Park Stannard went away,
EPIC RIDE, GREAT STAGE VICTORY, EXTREME KUDOS!!! managed to see rac4 times, at start Congleton, at KOM Alderley & bottom of Cat & up the little hill for Gawsworth from Fools Nook.
casting Briggs and House adrift to then contest their own race for second.
Stannard was long since finished and celebrating with family and his team as Briggs and Middlewich resident House fought out the battle for second, Briggs staying on the ONE Pro Cycling man’s wheel to come around House in the final metres for the runner-up spot.
Bardiani CSF’s Nicola Ruffoni led in the peloton for fourth, outsprinting Danny Van Poppel and Ramon Sinkeldam, who pulled on the Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey.
Andre Greipel retains the Yodel Sprints jersey going into Stage Four in Wales, while Xandro Meurisse keeps the SKODA King of the Mountains jersey for a further day. The Belgian enjoyed a day long tussle with Nicolas Roche for the remaining points at each of the three climbs, but only managed to extend his hold on the jersey by a solitary point.
All images ©CyclingShorts.cc | chrismaher.co.uk
Stage Four is the longest of the 2016 Tour of Britain, weighing in at 218-kilometres from Denbigh to Builth Wells, and also including 4,000-metres of ascent as the route wends its way south through Mid-Wales to the finish on the Royal Welsh Showground.
by Anna Magrath | Sep 6, 2016
Post race interview with Ian Standard of Team Sky after he soloed to a memorable stage victory in the beautiful surrounds of Tatton Park on the outskirts of Knutsford, as huge crowds lined the route of the first every Cheshire East stage of the Tour of Britain.
Post race interview with Ian Standard of Team Sky after he soloed to a memorable stage victory in the beautiful surrounds of Tatton Park on the outskirts of Knutsford, as huge crowds lined the route of the first every Cheshire East stage of the Tour of Britain.
Full stage 1 race report and gallery can be viewed by clicking here.
Full stage 2 race report and gallery can be viewed by clicking here.
Full stage 3 race report and gallery can be viewed by clicking here.
All images & Content ©CyclingShorts.cc | chrismaher.co.uk
by Anna Magrath | Apr 30, 2016
All images ©CyclingShorts.cc / Craig Zadoroznyj
Words by Anna Magrath
Stage details:
Start: Beverley
Finish: Settle
187km in length
Victory for the sprinters!
The unpredictable weather didn’t put a dampener on the first stage of the 2016 Tour de Yorkshire. The tough day culminated in a crowd pleasing sprint finish on the streets of Settle in glorious sunshine.
Olympian Rebecca Romero waved the riders off in Beverley town centre for the processional start, as the riders were finding their legs there was a pile up mid peloton, a Team Katusha rider face planting on a cattle grid with a tangle of riders on top of him, all but the the rider in red Sven Erik Bystrom made it back up.
The race proper got underway at Beverley Racecourse on the outskirts of the town. The attack came quickly, after his less than successful social media week Pete Kennaugh decided to redeem himself by taking it upon himself to push hard on the front for Team Sky to try to reel the six riders in (Pete Williams OneProCycling, Graham Briggs JLT Condor, Nils Pollit Katusha Cycling, Matt Cronshaw Madison Genesis, Jens Wallays Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise, Sebastian Mora Team Raleigh GAC) escaping down the road and taking a good 1 minute 30 seconds out of the peloton without too much effort. The bunch let them yo-yo for the majority of the race with the group taking a 5 minute lead. They mopped up the first sprint points and the Kom’s with Skipton rider Williams taking the King of the Mountain maximum points and Mora winning the sprint.
Pete Williams had no intention of giving up the fight and after being caught he still tried to fight back but to no avail.
The route took riders through the Wolds, snaking through a sea of yellow and blue decorations to Tadcaster and into the Yorkshire Dales for an exciting finish in Settle. Dylan Groenewegen of the Netherlands, riding with Lotto NL Jumbo, took the win.
Just like for the Tour de France in 2014 and the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire in 2015, Yorkshire truly embraced the spirit of cycling, with towns and villages decked out in banners, bunting and bikes with crowds roaring as the peloton whizzed past.
On their way the riders passed many of the amazing land art installations created by local communities with designs at the top of the Cote de Greenhow Hill and Kelfield.
Action started to hot up at 15km to go, as One Pro Cycling, Orica GreenEdge and Team Sky began to mobilise their sprint trains but not long after, two French riders attacked; Turgis and Voeckler made a perfectly timed break to escape from the bunch. Aided by a tailwind, the French held their gap before British rider Steve Cummings caught the pair, breaking away on his own at 3km to go attempting to time trial to the finish. Cummings extended his gap on the final run into Settle before sitting up and being swallowed by the pack.
From there the technical finish created a fast paced sprint, with Lotto NL Jumbo placing Groenewegen well for the win with Orica GreenEdge’s Caleb Ewan narrowly missing first.
Sir Gary Verity congratulated winner Dylan Groenewegen and praised the people of Yorkshire for their support for the race. He said: “Wow what a day for Yorkshire! The way that thousands of people came out to support the Tour de Yorkshire was just incredible. It is testament to true Yorkshire grit that the weather failed to dampen the spirits of the crowds with people of all ages – from school children to the elderly – cheering on the riders throughout the entire race. It was moving to see.
“The atmosphere at the start in Beverley was just electric and the excitement and energy continued throughout the communities lining the route all the way to the magnificent crowd at the finish in Settle. Yorkshire you should be proud! We promised to deliver a terrific event and the people of the county have helped us do just that. We can’t wait for another two days of exhilarating racing ahead”
Tomorrow’s stage marks an important landmark for women’s racing as world champion Lizzie Armitstead will line up on the start line in her home town for the Asda Women’s Tour de Yorkshire, alongside Great Britain teammate Emma Pooley, as well as Rio hopeful Dani King. One of the world’s top sprinters Kirsten Wild will also join a host of top flight international and domestic riders including our very own Team Jadan-Weldtite (Yorkshire based team) for the race which takes place over the exact same course as the men’s, is fully televised and at the time of racing has the largest prize pot in the world of any women’s race.
Top 10:
1 – Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
2 – Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
3 – Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin
4 – Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
5 – Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
6 – Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
7 – Christopher Lawless (GBr) JLT Condor
8 – Karol Domagalski (Pol) ONE Pro Cycling
9 – Dion Smith (NZl) ONE Pro Cycling
10 – Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen – Baloise
For all race information, results & images visit www.letouryorkshire.com
by Chris Maher | Oct 29, 2015
All images ©www.chrismaher.co.uk / CyclingShorts.cc
Tennant and Keisse take Team Pedalsure to the top in the first round of the Revolution Championship 2015/16 in Manchester.
Revolution 53
Andrew Tennant and Iljo Keisse consistently rode well in the five Race Events taking Team Pedalsure to the top of the Championship League after the first full round of the 2015-16 Winter Season.
There was thrilling four-way sprint across the line of the UCI Scratch Race for Tennant beating Wiggins, Wood and Viviani. Mark Stewart had set off early, but was soon caught by Elia Viviani. Approaching the final couple of corners Tennant, the Wiggins and Wood all took the longer path around the track, but it was Tennant that got there first. This provided the only victory for Team Pedalsure on the day. Keisse’s strong second place in the UCI Points Race and the teams second placement in the Revolution one-kilometre Madison Time Trial added valuable points to their tally.
Last years Champions Maloja Pushbikers pushed all the way, winning the 1km Madison Time Trial in the final heat, after Team Pedalsure set the initial 56.875 time that looked unbeatable on the night. Most of the other teams challenged with around the 58s time, but Maloja set the only sub 56s time with a 55.907, they are determined to beat Oli Wood and Ed Clancy’s record of 54.537 this season by all accounts.
HOY Future Star Events
The HOY future Star Championship got off to a great start for Rhys Britton and Jessica Roberts whom both lead into round three at the Lee Valley Velodrome in early November.
Rhys pulled the triple off, winning the Scratch, Points and Six-Lap Dash, giving him a clear lead over Fred Wright for the next round.
Roberts won both the Points and the Six-Lap Dash, winning the bunch sprint in the Scratch Race after a gutsy solo victory by Maddie Gammons (Maloja Pushbikers).
Elite Women’s Endurance Events
Matrix Fitness’s Laura Trott took a double win in the Elite Women’s UCI Events winning both the Points and Elimination Races.
Team USN’s Emily Nelson was the only rider to lap the field, to win the UCI Scratch Race.
Women’s Sprint Events
Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele proved too strong to beat in the Women’s UCI Sprint racing. Winning the initial 200m Flying Start Qualifying in the Sprint Competition, set a time of 11.477 against her closest rival, GB’s Sophie Capewell with a 11.786.
Degrendele went on the reach the finals against Capewell, with a convincing two heat victory.
Degrendele’s strenght also proved too powerful in both heats of the Keirin, winning easily against all her rivals.
UCI Sprint – Qualification 200m Time Trial Women
- Nicky Grendele BEL 11.447
- Sophie Capewell GBR 11.786
- Bernette Beyers RSA 11.797
- Robyn Stewart SCO 12.128
- Neah Evans SCO 12.213
- Emma Baird SCO 12.412
- Odette Van Deventer RSA 12.883
- Shanaze Reade DNS
Elite Championship Flying Lap Men
- Oli Wood JLT 13.692
- Marcel Kalz MAL 13.821
- Elia Viviani SKY 14.080
- Chris Latham VCU 14.094
- Andy Tennant PED 14.112
- Joe Holt USN 14.364
- Angus Claxton SCO 14.379
- Owain Doull WIG 14.762
- Marc Hester ONE 14.933
- Adam Blythe OGE 14.939
- Alastair Rutherford NAB 14.941
- Melvin Van Zijl TAL 15.042
UCI Points Race (20km) Women
- Laura Trott Matrix Fitness
- Katie Archibald Pearl Izumi Sports Tours Int’l
- Emily Kay Team USN
- Elinor Barker Matrix Fitness
- Manon Lloyd Team USN
- Megan Barker 100%ME
- Abbie Dentus 100%ME
- Henrietta Colbourne Team Jadan
- Emily Nelson Team USN
- Rebecca Raybould PWH
- Annasley Park 100%ME
- Sophie Black Isle of MAN
- Melissa Lowther Matrix Fitness
- Ellen McDermott Team Jadan
Australian Pursuit (2km) Women
Emily Kay, Emily Nelson, Megan Barker, Abbie Dentus
Elite Championship Points Race (30km) Men
- Elia Viviani Team Sky
- Iljo Keisse Team Pedalsure
- Mark Stewart Scotland
- Christian Grasmann Maloja Pushbikers
- Marc Hester ONE Pro Cycling
- Pim Lighart ONE Pro Cycling
- Anny Tennant Team Pedalsure
- Adam Blythe Orica GreenEdge
- Bradley Wiggins Team WIGGINS
- Alistair Rutherford The NAB Racing
- Yoeri Havik JLT Condor p/b
- Melvin Van Zijl Telegraph Allstars
Elite Championship Scratch Race (15km) Men
- Andy Tennant Team Pedalsure
- Bradley Wiggins Team WIGGINS
- Oli Wood JLT Condor p/b Mavic
- Elia Viviani Team Sky
- Mark Stewart Team Scotland
- Yoeri Havik JLT Condor p/b Mavic
- Christian Grasmann Maloja Pushbikers RT
- Alastair Rutherford The NAB Racing
- Matt Bostock Team USN
- Reece Wood The NAB Racing
- Adam Blythe Orica GreenEdge
- Iljo Keisse Team Pedalsure
Elimination Race Women
Laura Trott, Emily Kay, Katie Archibald, Manon Lloyd
Elite Championship 1km Madison Time Trial -1 Men
- Maloja Pushbikers RT 55.907
- Team Pedalsure 56.875
- Team WIGGINS 57.135
- VCUK – Champion Systems 57.765
- Telegraph Allstars 58.054
- JLT Condor p/b Mavic
- Orica GreenEdge
- Team Scotland
- Team Sky
- Team USN
- ONE Pro Cycling
- The NAB Racing
Revolution Longest Lap Men
Chris Latham, Reece Wood, Chris Lawless, Marc Hester
HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash (1.5km) Boys
- Reece Britton Team USN
- Fred Wright Telegraph Allstars
- Jake Stewart Team WIGGINS
- Lewis Stewart Team Scotland
- Matthew Burke Team USN
Elite Championship Team Elimination Men
- Team WIGGINS
- Team Pedalsure
- VCUK – Champion Systems
- Maloja Pushbikers RT
- ONE Pro Cycling
- JLT Condor p/b Mavic
- Telegraph Allstars
- Orica GreenEdge
- The NAB Racing
- Team Scotland
- Team Sky
- Team USN
HOY Future Stars 6 Lap Dash (1.5km) Girls
- Jessica Roberts Team USN
- Rachel Jary Telegraph Allstars
- Rhona Callander Team Scotland
- Lauren Dolan ONE Pro Cycling
- Elizabeth Bennett Team USN
Elite Championship Presentations – Winning Team
Andrew Tennant and Iljo Kiesse, Team Pedalsure
UCI Scratch Race – (10km) Women
- Emily Nelson Team USN
- Emily Kay Team USN
- Megan Barker
- Katie Archibald
- Elinor Barker
- Laura Trott
- Henrietta Colbourne
- Abbie Dentus
- Manon Lloyd
- Annasley Park
- Rebecca Raybould
- Sophie Black
- Melissa Lowther
HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km) Boys
- Reece Britton Team USN
- Jake Stewart Team WIGGINS
- Fred Wright Telegraph Allstars
- Lewis Stewart Team Scotland
- Ben Hardwick JLT Condor p/b Mavic
UCI Sprint Keirin – First Round Women
Nicky Degrendele, Neah Evans, Robyn Stewart, Emma Baird
HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km) Girls
- Maddie Gammons Maloja Pushbikers RT
- Jessica Roberts Team USN
- Georgia Hilliard Team WIGGINS
- Sophie Williams Orica GreenEdge
- Pfieffer Georgi ONE Pro Cycling
HOY Future Stars Scratch Race (5km) Boys
- Reece Britton Team USN
- Fred Wright Telegraph Allstars
- Anthony Anderson Telegraph Allstars
- Jim Brown ONE Pro Cycling
- Matthew Shaw Maloja Pushbikers RT
UCI Keirin Final Women
Nicky Degrendele, Robyn Stewart, Sophie Capewell, Emma Baird.
HOY Future Stars Points Race (5km) Girls
- Jessica Roberts Team USN
- Charlotte Cole-Hossain VCUK – Champion Systems
- Sophie Williams Orica GreenEdge
- Rhona Callander Team Scotland
- Lauren Dolan ONE Pro Cycling
Team Sprint Women
Team Scotland beat the Republic of South Africa.
HOY Future Stars
Reece Britton & Jessica Roberts
The next round:
Round 3: 14 November London
Round 4: 28 November Glasgow
Round 5: 02 January Manchester
Round 6: 23 January Manchester
by Anna Magrath | Sep 14, 2015
All images ©CyclingShorts.cc / wwwchrismaher.co.uk
Edvald Boasson Hagen of MTN Qhubeka became the first rider to win the modern Aviva Tour of Britain twice when he successfully defended his 13 second lead on the final stage, an 86.8km circuit race around some of central London’s iconic landmarks.
The Norwegian sprinted to fifth on the stage, which was upgraded to fourth when Andre Greipel was relegated for impeding Elia Viviani in the final sprint up Regent Street St James, handing the Italian his third stage win of the week.
Viviani’s victories in Wrexham, Floors Castle and now London also mean he is only the fifth rider to win three stages in one edition of the race, and joins Mark Cavendish as one of only two riders to win Tour of Britain stages in England, Scotland and Wales.
Speaking afterwards he said “After yesterday I saw I had good speed in the legs after a really hard week, so we thought we could win today.
“(Ben) Swifty and Andy (Fenn) put me in a perfect position for the last corner. We saw the road go up and I knew we couldn’t start the sprint too early. When I saw Greipel go I went directly on his left-hand side. He came across a little bit, a little bit and that edged me towards the barriers. I’m disappointed because it is better to win without this. He is a big champion and I’ve never seen him do this before. But we won in London and that is the main thing.”
“This week has been really good with lots of stages over 200 kilometres,” he added. “It has given me a very good base for the worlds and I am really confident. I think the Tour of Britain is the perfect roads for the worlds this year.”
After the stage Greipel insisted the incident was accidental: “I didn’t see Viviani coming. I was just concentrating on my sprint and suddenly he was next to me. The final straight wasn’t that wide, I had to look for space to overtake. Everybody was on the limit on the final corner. I didn’t do anything for purpose that’s for sure. That’s sprinting.”
Boasson Hagen’s fourth place on the day was more than enough to see him win the Aviva Yellow Jersey outright thirteen seconds ahead of Team Sky’s Wout Poels with young British rider Owain Doull capping an outstanding week’s work by moving up to third place overall thanks to a time bonus, the best result of his road career to date.
Doull also claimed the Chain Reaction Cycles Points jersey, having finished in the top ten on all but one stage (the finish at Hartside where he came 11th) and the Premier Inn Best British Rider award.
Boasson Hagen, who won three stages in 2008 and four in 2009, didn’t take a stage victory in 2015, but arguably his overall victory was all the more impressive, having to fight off a determined effort from Team Sky, working for the in-form Poels.
“I am very happy with that win,” said Boasson Hagen who joined MTN Qhubeka at the start of this season from Team Sky. “The object today was simply to defend the jersey and my team did a great job all day. Team WIGGINS took it out very fast at the start looking for the intermediate Sprint and seconds for their rider and it was very hard but then the race settled down a little. I always like to race to win. I had my chances with Sky but perhaps I get more chances with MTN Qhubeka. I think perhaps this year it was harder to win the GC than back in 2009, the course was tougher and Sky were very strong.”
Boasson Hagen now goes onto the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia where he will be riding primarily for Alexander Kristoff although on this form he clearly represents a viable Plan B. Both Greipel and Viviani have also expressed their hopes of taking the title and it could yet be that the Aviva Tour of Britain again acts as ideal build up for the eventual champion, as it did last year with Michel Kwiatkowski.
With a new look circuit hosting 14-laps of racing, the early interest in the final stage centred mainly on Team WIGGINS trying to secure two vital seconds for Doull to move him from fourth place onto the podium in third ahead of Rasmus Guldhammer of Cult Energy Pro Cycling.
For a team consisting of Great Britain’s best team pursuiters that was a pleasing scenario and provided a fine spectacle for a large crowd as Team WIGGINS went to the front half way around the first lap and bossed the race for the first three laps right up to the first intermediate YodelDirect Sprint.
A huge turn on lap three from Sir Bradley Wiggins set Doull up nicely although Russ Downing, riding for Cult Energy did manage to infiltrate the Team WIGGINS train and take the line honours to deny Doull the full three seconds. Doull, however, comfortably collected two seconds for second place to move into third on the road, a position he was able to defend.
After the first sprint an eight man break went up the road which meant Cult had to chase in an attempt to get Guldhammer into the second YodelDirect Sprint. Ultimately it was in vain with the peloton unable to get on terms in time, last year’s overall winner Dylan van Baarle taking both the second and third YodelDirect Sprints, on his way to finishing eighth overall.
Elsewhere Peter Williams of ONE Pro Cycling completed an excellent week’s riding – both individually and in the team context – by taking both the SKODA King of the Mountains title and YodelDirect Sprint jersey, only the third time that feat has ever been achieved in Aviva Tour of Britain history
Williams, from Southport, had cinched the Skoda King of the Mountains title on Saturday when he took maximum points on the final climb of the day up Brantham Hill in Suffolk and started today’s stage seven points up from Conor Dunne in the YodelDirect Sprints classification. With neither rider contesting the first sprint of the day Williams’ lead became unassailable and the celebrations could start.
“It’s a massive achievement for ONE Pro Cycling. This time last year it was just a few conversations and the ball had just started to role so it was a really new team. To come away with two leaders’ jerseys on our Tour debut is a brilliant achievement.
“I feel like I’ve been in good form all year, the setup is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and it helps get the best out of all the riders. It’s a really good environment. Coming into the Tour of Britain we had prepared well and felt ready to come here and do something.”
For full results and standings, please click here.
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