photo credits @ Tour of Britain
As expected the final stage of this year’s Tour of Britain, came down to a sprint finish in the streets of London with a dramatic final few hundred meters seeing a duel between Andre Greipel of Lotto Soudal and Elia Viviani of Team Sky.
Greipel looked to have taken the win, however, a review of the action by the judges saw him relegated, while was Viviani given his second stage win of the race
Meanwhile, race leader, Edvald Boasson Hagen, stayed out of trouble to secure the overall victory, with a 13 second lead over Woult Poels of Team Sky.
The early stages of today’s 14 lap race round London, was animated by Team Wiggins who placed Owain Doull well for the opening sprint, where he gathered a crucial 2 second bonus to elevate him to third place in the general classification.
The young British rider also maintained his lead in the Chain Reaction Points Competition, to lift that title and also finish as Premier Inn Best British Rider.
In the meantime, Peter Williams of One Pro Cycling, who had secured the Skoda King of the Mountains title yesterday, added the YodelDirect Sprints title he had held since earlier in the week.
The Finale
Viviani crossed the line with a hand raised in protest, in response to Greipel’s deviation in direction toward the finish, which subsequently forced him against the barriers.
Indeed, Greipel and Viviani brushed shoulders as the German rider went past him. And, despite the fact that the Italian rider managed to avoid hitting the barriers, his sprint was nonetheless impeded.
Meanwhile, Juan José Lobato (Movistar) took third place ahead of Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), while Boasson Hagen finished safely in fifth place to seal his overall victory.
For Boasson Hagen, the win marks his second Tour of Britain overall victory, after winning the 2009 edition.
Stage 8 Results ITA 1 VIVIANI, Elia (SKY) 1:50:16 ESP 2 LOBATO DEL VALLE, Juan Jose (MOVISTAR) ITA 3 TRENTIN, Matteo (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) NOR 4 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (MTN – QHUBEKA) BEL 5 DEBUSSCHERE, Jens (LOTTO SOUDAL) 6 HOLST ENGER Sondre (IAM CYCLING) AUS 7 RENSHAW, Mark (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) GBR 8 BRIGGS, Graham (JLT CONDOR) GER 9 ZEPUNTKE, Ruben (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) GBR 10 DOULL, Owain (TEAM WIGGINS) BEL 11 VANGENECHTEN, Jonas (IAM CYCLING) CZE 12 STYBAR, Zdenek (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) GBR 13 DOWNING, Russell (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) RUS 14 TRUSOV, Nikolay (TINKOFF – SAXO) ITA 15 BETTIOL, Alberto (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) DEN 16 GULDHAMMER, Rasmus (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) GBR 17 MCEVOY, Jonathan (NFTO) NED 18 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) DEN 19 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker (TINKOFF – SAXO) NED 20 TANKINK, Bram (LOTTO NL – JUMBO)
Final General Classification NOR 1 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (MTN – QHUBEKA) 34:52:52 NED 2 POELS, Wouter (SKY) + 13 GBR 3 DOULL, Owain (TEAM WIGGINS) + 42 DEN 4 GULDHAMMER, Rasmus (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) + 43 CZE 5 STYBAR, Zdenek (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 51 ESP 6 FERNANDEZ, Ruben (MOVISTAR) NED 7 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) NED 8 VAN BAARLE, Dylan (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 53 DEN 9 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 59 BEL 10 MEURISSE, Xandro (AN POST – CHAINREACTION) + 1:02 CRO 11 KISERLOVSKI, Robert (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 1:14 GBR 12 PETERS, Alex (GREAT BRITAIN) + 1:19 BEL 13 DEBUSSCHERE, Jens (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 1:33 DEN 14 QUAADE, Rasmus Christian (CULT ENERGY PRO CYCLING) + 1:34 NED 15 TANKINK, Bram (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 2:00 ITA 16 BETTIOL, Alberto (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 2:07 NED 17 LANGEVELD, Sebastian (CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 2:28 GBR 18 KENNAUGH, Peter (SKY) + 2:51 AUT 19 DENIFL, Stefan (IAM CYCLING) + 3:32 NED 20 CLEMENT, Stef (IAM CYCLING) + 4:57
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