photo credits @ Tour of Britain
Wout Poels (Team Sky) won stage 6 of the Tour of Britain today, marking the Dutch rider’s third British Tour victory.
The Team Sky rider succeeded in distancing his rivals along the final climb to Haytor, to seize a solo victory 6 seconds ahead of Rohan Dennis (BMC), followed by Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).
Meanwhile, race leader Julian Vermote (Etixx-QuickStep) cracked during today’s final climb, subsequently losing almost two minutes by the time he reached the top.
As a result, the Belgian rider was forced to relinquish his leader’s jersey to Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data).
“It’s my third victory at the Tour of Britiain and sixth of the season. It’s going really good this season. It’s always nice to win in the Tour of Britain. It’s a really nice race and the crowds are great,” said Poels. “We took control a little bit at the end and we wanted to close the gap to go for the stage win with. Ian and Danny did a really good job.”
Race Highlights
The peloton eventually caught what remained of the day’s breakaway group during the final 10 kilometers.
From there, Dennis was the first rider to animate the field with an attack along the final ascent to Haytor.
Just as the Australian rider managed to open up a slight gap, he was quickly joined by Poels, Dumoulin and Gorka Izaguirre (Movistar).
In the meantime, Vermote found himself in trouble, as he struggled to keep pace along the final climb.
Shortly thereafter, Cummings bridged his way to the four leaders, along with Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), only to be dropped when Dumoulin upped the pace at the front the lead group.
Poels was able to remain on terms with his compatriot, subsequently initiating an attack of his own during the last kilometer.
Dennis and Dumoulin made a concerted effort to try and reel Poels back in during the closing 500 meters. But, the Dutch rider had already created enough of a gap to remain outside of their clutches, and claim the stage honors.
Tour of Britain stage six 1. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, 4-56-15 2. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC, at 6s 3. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 10s 4. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac, at 12s 5. Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, at 16s 6. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, st 7. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, st 8. Steve Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data, at 20s 9. Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis, at 30s 10. Gorka Izagirre (Esp) Movistar, st
Overall standings after stage six 1. Steve Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data, 27-04-11 2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 49s 3. Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC, at 51s 4. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal, at 53s 5. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac, 6. Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, at 58s 7. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, at 1-06 8. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky, at 1-14 9. Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo, at 1-20 10. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert, at 1-24
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