Lars Boom retains OVO Energy Green Jersey in Cheltenham

by | Sep 10, 2017

Lars Boom retained the overall lead of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain heading into the final day to Cardiff, surviving an explosive day of racing through the Cotswolds to Cheltenham as his teammate Dylan Groenewegen took the stage win.

Groenewegen outsprinted triple stage winner Caleb Ewan and Brenton Jones but it was only thanks to the hard work of his Lotto NL Jumbo team that the race had come back together for the sprint alongside Cheltenham’s Imperial Gardens having resisted attacks from general classification contenders Tony Martin, Alex Dowsett, Edvald Boasson Hagen among others, the latter of whom was caught within the final 1,500-metres.

The stage was very hard but I survived it. It was a little bit freestyle sprint so I used Caleb Ewan’s wheel and Gaviria’s.

He [Ewan] is in great form so it’s really good that I could beat him.  After the Tour de France I was a little bit tired, but I think the form is good so it’s good for morale.

Dylan Groenewegen

Winner Stage 7 - OVO Tour of Britain, Team Lotto.Nl - Jumbo

After a start under clear blue skies in Hemel Hempstead, the race exploded into life – as did the rain clouds – with an aggressive start to the stage and Cannondale Drapac in particular making several attempts to put riders up the road.

In the end two groups of three riders went away, but with neither a threat to the overall they were allowed to merge and build a four-minute plus lead, with Jacob Scott extending his SKODA King of the Mountains lead as a result.

With the race entering the Cotwolds and the gap just over the three minute mark, Tiago Machado sparked the attacking, going clear of the peloton but not quite making it to the leading six.

Behind him a strong five-rider group made an attempt to work their way across, including his Katusha Alpecin teammate Reto Hollenstein, Michal Kwiatkowski, Sylvian Diller, Ryan Mullen and Dowsett.  The five got 30-seconds clear of the peloton, but with Lotto NL Jumbo alert to the threat to Boom’s lead began to work hard bringing the whole race back together.

This immediately spurred another Katusha Alpecin into action, with World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin driving clear in heavy rain on an impressive, and sustained, solo effort, but one that was ultimately doomed under the Lotto pressure.

With everyone back together the intermediate Eisberg Sprint at Winchcombe became the new general classification battleground, with BMC’s Stefan Küng grabbing the bonus seconds to elevate him into second overall – between Boom and teammate Victor Campenaerts – while Mark McNally took two points to leap him over Graham Briggs and into the Eisberg Sprints jersey.

On the day’s final SKODA King of the Mountains climb at Cleeve Hill, topping out with less than 10-kilometres remaining five riders went clear including former winners Boasson Hagen and Dylan Van Baarle.

Van Baarle then crashed out on the descent, obstructing Laurens De Plus and leaving Dion Smith, Gorka Izagirre and Boasson Hagen out front.  With the teams of the sprinters sensing the chance of success again – that earlier in the day had seemed highly unlikely – they came to the front on the final five kilometres in Cheltenham, reeling the trio in just before the final kilometre arch.

Interview – Dylan Groenewegen – Winner Stage 7 – OVO Tour of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

Team Lotto.Nl – Jumbo rider Dylan Groenewegen; winner of stage 7 of the OVO Tour of Britain 2017 talks to the media after his victory. All content & Images ©www.CyclingShorts.cc | wwwchrismaher.co.uk

It was quite a hectic start but we controlled it quite well. It was a good situation for us [praising the work throughout the day of this team], Gijs van Hoecke and Primoz Roglic controlled the bunch quite well.

We never had any problems except a small problem with 30, 40 kilometres to go when the group with Dowsett and Kwiato went. I did not react straightaway and Campenaerts had to pull on the front.

There was a small breakaway with Boasson Hagen, which was a bit critical, but I went full downhill to try and keep the gap as small as possible and then the sprinters teams took over.

The main goal was to not allow Boasson Hagen and Kwiato to take seconds as tomorrow if you take all of the seconds – there are 19-seconds in total available if you’re lucky.  But now we are a little bit more comfortable so it’ll be a good day tomorrow.

Lars Boom

Green Jersey Holder after Stage 7, Team Lotto.Nl - Jumbo

Interview – Lars Boom Green Jersey holder after Stage 7 – OVO Tour of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

Lars Boom of Team Lotto.Nl – Jumbo talks to the media after retaining the Green Jersey (GC) after Stage 7 of the OVO Tour of Britain 2017. All content & Images ©www.CyclingShorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

Heading towards Wales and the final stage Boom leads overall by eight-seconds from Küng, with teammate Campenaerts and Vasil Kiryienka each a further second behind.  Geraint Thomas is the best placed Brit and leader of the Adnams classification heading to his home city of Cardiff in ninth, 20-seconds back.

For full results and standings from Stage Seven, please click here.

 

The final stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain sees the peloton racing from Worcester to Cardiff, heading through Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Newport before the finish on King Edward VII Avenue in Cardiff.  The 180-kilometre stage begins at 11:00, with live coverage on ITV4 from 10:45 and concludes with three-laps of a city centre circuit in Cardiff taking in the city’s most iconic sights.

Highlights from the sixth stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Saturday evening (9 September) with a repeat the following morning.

 

Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km
Chris Maher

Chris Maher

Photographer & Writer

Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk

Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

Caleb Ewan completes hattrick of OVO Energy Tour of Britain stage wins

by | Sep 8, 2017

All images ©SW Pix

Caleb Ewan completed a hattrick of stage wins in the 2017 OVO Energy Tour of Britain, sprinting to victory in Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast at the end of Stage Six, as Lars Boom finished safely within the pack to retain his overall lead and the OVO Energy Green Jersey.

Ewan hit the front coming out of the final corner, swinging off Maximiliano Richeze’s wheel to power comfortably to the line to add to his wins in Kelso and Scunthorpe.

Fernando Gaviria took second after his lead out was disrupted as Zdenek Stybar pulled his foot out of the pedal through the final corner, while Dylan Groenewegen took third, and with it the final bonus seconds to further help protect his Lotto NL Jumbo teammate Boom’s lead.

Stybar had led into the final right-hander, but took a tighter line and then unclipped, taking Ewan’s teammate Luka Mezgec wide, but at the same time opening the run onto the finish straight for the explosive power of the young Orica Scott man.

We got information that the final corner was very tight and a little bit off camber as well so we wanted to be in a good position there. I was pretty much in a perfect position exactly where I wanted to be then one of the Quick-Step guys went through the corner and took a really bad line, he unclipped and pushed my lead out man Luka out and I lost him through the corner.  I decided I’d just go for it there and it was a little bit longer sprint than I hoped for, but luckily it paid off.

I came here with this as a target race for the back of the season for me and training’s been going well.  I did want to come here in good form so I couldn’t be happier with how it’s started.

Caleb Ewan

Winner Stage 6 - OVO Tour of Britain 2017, Team Orica-Scott

Behind the leading trio Alexander Kristoff and Andrea Pasqualon took fourth and fifth, while there was another top ten finish for JLT Condor’s Brenton Jones in sixth.

The day’s seven rider break took a while to be established in what was the fastest opening hour to any of the five road stages this year, but with Hayden McCormick and James Shaw within the group and both just over a minute down on Boom, their advantage was never allowed to exceed three-minutes.

The break worked well together but unfortunately it was three kilometres too far for us today.

There was a slight glimmer of hope about 15-kilometres to go, they came past with the board showing 1’35” and I thought this is going to be a close one.  They came past us with three-kilometres to go, they must’ve really put the hammer down.

James Shaw

Shaw’s reward for his efforts was a trip to the podium for the HIGH5 Combativity Award, while ONE Pro Cycling’s McCormick moved up three places in the overall to inside the top 30 thanks to bonus seconds collected.

With fourth on the stage Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha Alpecin moves into the lead of the Wiggle Points Jersey by eight points over Gaviria while Geraint Thomas remains the best placed Brit overall and leader of the Adnams classification, sponsored by the Suffolk brewer.

Both the SKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg Sprints Jerseys remain on the shoulders of Jacob Scott (An Post Chain Reaction) and Graham Briggs (JLT Condor) respectively going into the penultimate stage.

Briggs lies just one point behind Scott in the climber’s category, with Lukasz Owsian a further four points behind.  The JLT Condor man has just a one point advantage over Mark McNally in the Eisberg Sprints category, sponsored by alcohol free wine brand Eisberg.

For full results and standings from Stage Six, please click here.

Stage Seven of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain crosses Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire as the race heads west from Hemel Hempstead in the borough of Dacorum to Cheltenham for a finish alongside Imperial Gardens. The 185-kilometre stage begins at 11:00, with live coverage on ITV4 from 10:45.
 
Highlights from the sixth stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Friday evening (8 September) with a repeat the following morning.

Stage Seven Saturday 9 September Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham 185km
Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km

 

Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

Lars Boom takes time trial win and OVO Energy Tour of Britain lead

by | Sep 8, 2017

All images ©SW Pix

Lars Boom took the lead of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain with the stage win as Clacton and the Tendring district of Essex hosted an 16-kilometre individual time trial.

The Dutchman, who won two stages and the overall of the race in 2011, averaged over 51kph to head home teammate and European Time Trial Champion Victor Campenaerts by six seconds, with former World Time Trial Champion Vasil Kiryienka a further second in arrears.

Boom now leads overall by eight-seconds from his teammate, with Kiryienka another second behind.  Twelve riders lie within 30-seconds of the race lead, include Team Sky’s Welsh duo Geraint Thomas and Owain Doull, the former of whom is now the Adnams Best British rider overall in ninth place.

Afterwards Boom was pleased with his victory, highlighting the quality of the top 10, all of whom had World, European or National Time Trial championships to their name.

I know, I always go out hard, [commented Boom on his fast start that saw him lead through all of the time checks], So I knew already in my mind that if it’s headwind in the last few kilometres I’m going to drop some seconds, but in the end I could keep it on 45, 48 [kph], so it was quite OK and my team director was telling me that at one-kilometre out I was still 10 seconds faster, so I knew it was OK.

The week before we came to Britain I had some problems with the stomach and so I was looking a little bit funny for the shape, but the feeling now was pretty good on the TT bike.

There’s a really strong field here, that’s why I’m also really pleased with the win.  We have to make a plan for the next few days. We need to see because it can be difficult with only six riders in the team, so it makes the racing also a little bit more difficult, but that’s quite nice about this race. And 20-seconds is not much so we have to look… I don’t know yet.

Lars Boom

Winner Stage 1 - OVO Energy Women's Tour

Orica Scott’s Luke Durbridge was the early leader, overtaking Harry Tanfield’s early pace setting time, before 2015 World Time Trial Champion Kiryienka went quicker with a time that home favourites Thomas and Alex Dowsett couldn’t match.

Team Lotto NL Jumbo then took the lead with Campenaerts, before Boom usurped him going eighth from last, threatening to go under the 19-minute mark, finishing on 19.02”.  The Dutch team now hold three of the top five positions on General Classification, with Jos Van Emden fifth having scored the same position on the stage.

There was no change in the other classifications, with Elia Viviani holding the Wiggle Points Jersey, Graham Briggs the Eisberg Sprints jersey and Jacob Scott the SKODA King of the Mountains jersey.

For full results and standings from Stage Five, please click here.

Stage 5 Individual Time Trial – Geraint Thomas – Image ©SW Pix

Stage Six of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain takes place within Suffolk, heading from the world-famous home of horse racing Newmarket to the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh.  The 187-kilometre stage begins at 10:45, with live coverage on ITV4 from 10:30.

Highlights from the fifth stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Thursday evening (7 September) with a repeat the following morning.

 

 

Stage Six Friday 8 September Newmarket to Aldeburgh 187km
Stage Seven Saturday 9 September Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham 185km
Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km
Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

Gaviria wins as Viviani retakes OVO Energy Green Jersey

by | Sep 6, 2017

Images ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

Fernando Gaviria stormed to victory in the fourth day of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain in Newark-on-Trent as the sprinters continued to dominate the 2017 edition of the race.

Second place behind Gaviria at the finish alongside Sconce and Devon Park in Newark was Team Sky’s Elia Viviani, who retook the race lead thanks to time bonuses, moving ahead of Caleb Ewan on countback.

I came here after a leg injury, so I’ve been missing a bit of condition and form, but day after day things went better and today I felt good and could take advantage of this [going on to praise his team’s efforts in helping him to his second career victory in Britain].

The boys were spectacular! Philippe protected me going into the last ten kilometres, then Zdenek and Max took over and guided me in the final. I’m happy I could repay them by taking the stage and I hope to get other good results before the Tour of Britain will come to a conclusion.

Fernando Gaviria

Winner Stage 4 - OVO Tour of Britain, Team Quick-Step Floors

Viviani returns to the lead of the race, which has so far swapped between himself and Ewan, as the Australian finished fifteenth and missed out on the time bonuses for the top three.

The Italian also retakes the lead in the Wiggle Points classification, two-points ahead of Alexander Kristoff, who has finished inside the top five on all four stages so far.

While the sprinters may have prevailed on Stage Four, their teams had to work harder for it than on previous days, with the escapees who had broken away on the Nottinghamshire stage only been caught with three-kilometres to go.

With 20-kilometres of the Nottinghamshire stage remaining, the leading group of five still had two-minute advantage, but with the sprinters teams applying pressure the gap began to fall with the catch eventually coming on the edge of Newark.

For sure it’s good to have the leader’s jersey back on the shoulders, I’m disappointed because it was a really, really close sprint – but with one of the best sprinters in the world – so it can be a good second place.

Elia Viviani

Green Jersey holder (GC) after Stage 4 in the OVO Tour of Britain 2017, Team Sky

The advantage though had been enough for An Post Chain Reaction’s Jacob Scott to win the points at the sole SKODA King of the Mountains climb at Eaton Wood after Retford, moving him a point clear of Graham Briggs and into the lead of the best climber’s competition.

Briggs did however hold onto the Eisberg Sprints jersey, partnered by leading alcohol free wine brand Eisberg, but now has a slender advantage of just one-point over Mark McNally, after the Wanty Groupe Gobert rider made the most of his day in the breakaway to secure all three Eisberg Sprint victories.

The day’s second Eisberg Sprint at Ranskill also proved important as Madison Genesis’ Richard Handley picked up third and with it a one-second time bonus, moving him above Chris Lawless as the Best British Rider, sponsored by Suffolk brewer Adnams.

For full results and standings from Stage Four, please click here.

Interview – Harry Tanfield – Start Of Stage 4 – OVO Tour Of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

Chris Maher of CyclingShorts.cc talks to Harry Tanfield of BIKE Channel Canyon at the beginning of Stage 4 of the OVO Tour of Britain 2017. Harry won the HIGH5 Combativity Award for stage 3 after continually animating the break. All images & content ©www.cyclingshorts.cc | wwwchrismaher.co.uk

 

Stage Five of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain takes place in the Tendring district of Essex, with riders facing an individual time trial over a classic British distance of 10-miles / 16-kilometres.  Graham Briggs, wearing the Eisberg Sprints Jersey will be the first rider away at 12:01, with race leader Elia Viviani the final rider off at 14:04.  Live coverage begins on ITV4 at 11:45.
 

 

Stage Five Thursday 7 September The Tendring Stage Individual Time Trial 16km
Stage Six Friday 8 September Newmarket to Aldeburgh 187km
Stage Seven Saturday 9 September Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham 185km
Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km
Chris Maher

Chris Maher

Photographer & Writer

Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk

Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

Caleb Ewan reclaims race lead with stage win in Scunthorpe

by | Sep 5, 2017

Caleb Ewan sprinted to his second victory of the week in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, heading home Edvald Boasson Hagen by less than a wheel width to reclaim the overall lead and the OVO Energy Green Jersey in Scunthorpe.

The Orica Scott rider followed up his opening day win in Kelso by out sprinting Boasson Hagen and European Champion Alexander Kristoff, to move six seconds ahead of overnight leader Elia Viviani who finished seventh in the bunch sprint.

The bunch brought back the remains of the day’s breakaway with around 15-kilometres of racing to go, with Philippe Gilbert then causing panic among the sprinters teams by jumping clear on the drag up to the line.

Interview – Caleb Ewan – Stage 3 Winner – OVO Tour of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

The media speak to Caleb Ewan after he storms to another stage win in the OVO Tour of Britain 2017 and takes control of GC. All content & Images ©www.cyclingshorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

 

Today was a tough day obviously with the weather, [said Ewan after the rainy conditions that swept the North Lincolnshire leg of the Tour]. So it wasn’t as straight forward as we would have hoped and I think it made it a bit harder.

We had to sit at the front all day, taking a bit of the wind and then with the hill coming up close to the finish line that made it a bit tricky as well.

After Gilbert went, I was pretty confident in Luka Mezgec, he knows what he is doing so I could just follow him. He had to go pretty much full gas as soon as he started the lead out so that made it harder for me as well.

To be honest, I was on his wheel and pretty pinned. As soon as he swung off I just gave it my all and did a big lunge for the line and luckily I just got the win ahead of Eddie.

Caleb Ewan

Winner Stage 3 - OVO Tour of Britain, Orica Scott

As well as win number two Ewan moves back into the lead of the Wiggle Points Jersey, five points ahead of Viviani.

For full results and standings from Stage Three, please click here.

It was also a brilliant day for Team JLT Condor who managed to get two riders, Graham Briggs and Ian Bibby, in the five-rider breakaway. The duo worked brilliantly together to make sure that between them they took maximum points in all of the day’s intermediate competitions, resulting in Briggs picking up the Eisberg Sprints and SKODA King of the Mountains jerseys.

A terrific day for the team was capped off by Australian sprinter Brenton Jones taking fourth place on the stage overall.

Elsewhere, BIKE Channel Canyon’s Harry Tanfield was awarded the HIGH5 Combativity Award for the day after continually animating the break.

Stage Four of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain takes place in Nottinghamshire with the county hosting its first full stage.  The stage begins in Mansfield town centre at 11:00 with live coverage on ITV4 from 10.45am, with the finish alongside Sconce and Devon Park in Newark-on-Trent after 164-kilometres of racing.
 
Highlights from the third stage of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain will be on ITV4 at 8pm on Tuesday evening (5 September) with a repeat the following morning.

 

Stage Four Wednesday 6 September Mansfield to Newark-on-Trent 165km
Stage Five Thursday 7 September The Tendring Stage Individual Time Trial 16km
Stage Six Friday 8 September Newmarket to Aldeburgh 187km
Stage Seven Saturday 9 September Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham 185km
Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km
Chris Maher

Chris Maher

Photographer & Writer

Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk

Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

Elia Viviani takes OVO Energy Tour of Britain lead in Blyth

by | Sep 4, 2017

Elia Viviani took his fifth stage win in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, but not without controversy as Edvald Boasson Hagen was initially declared the winner, before being disqualified for deviating in the sprint.

Viviani had crossed the line second behind the Norwegian, but Sky lodged a protest after the Dimension Data rider moved to his left in the sprint and was adjudged by the race jury to have impeded the Italian.

Following much deliberation, and Boasson Hagen initially appearing on the podium, the decision was overturned with him being relegated to the back of the main field and the victory, and OVO Energy Green Jersey going to Viviani.

Interview – Elia Viviani Stage 2 Winner – OVO Tour Of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

The media speak to Elia Viviani after he is awarded the stage two win after Edvald Boasson Hagen was disqualified for deviating from his sprint line. OVO Tour of Britain 2017. All content & images ©www.cyclingshorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

Boasson Hagen was conciliatory after the finish, acknowledging that he had unintentionally moved across on the run to the line in Blyth.

I know that I closed in Viviani but it wasn’t on purpose”, he said. “I was just sprinting for the line with my head down and when I looked up, I was too close on the left side with Viviani on my inside. It’s really a pity after all the hard work the guys did today. However, we will keep fighting and try to go for it again tomorrow.

Edvald Boasson Hagen

Rider, Team Dimension Data

I was feeling really good yesterday, but I was disappointed as the guys did a perfect job yesterday on a very technical finish and I finished only third,

I really wanted to win today and we did a really good leadout with Kwiato, Kiry, G and Tao – who worked all day. Owain put me on Boasson Hagen’s wheel in the final which was perfect and what we talked about this morning in our meeting, to be in second or third place going into the sprint.

All the team deserve this win and I hope to win again in the next few days too.

Elia Viviani

Winner Stage 2 - OVO Tour of Britain 2017, Team Sky

Interview – Edvald Boassan Hagen Stage 2 – OVO Tour Of Britain 2017 by Cycling Shorts

After an initial controversial stage win Edvald Boasson Hagen talks to the media about his disqualification for deviating from his sprint line against Elia Viviani in the OVO Tour of Britain 2017. All images & content ©www.cyclingshorts.cc | www.chrismaher.co.uk

Behind Boasson Hagen, Dylan Groenewegen took second place, with Fernando Gaviria in third.

Viviani now leads the OVO Energy Tour of Britain by four seconds from Stage One winner Caleb Ewan, with Boasson Hagen a further three seconds in arrears before Karol Domagalski and Silvan Dillier each an additional second back.

For full results and standings from Stage Three, please click here.

Once again the day’s racing was shaped by a breakaway group, this time of seven riders, with Madison Genesis’ Matt Holmes initiating the action straight away at the 0km mark, once the race had rolled away from the spectacular location of Kielder Water

Among the riders joining Holmes were two of Stage One’s escapees, Lukasz Owsain and Jacob Scott, with the pair ending the day tied on points for the SKODA King of the Mountains classification, but the jersey changing hands from the former to the latter at the day’s end.

Graham Briggs used the opportunity of another day in the break to pick up points at each of the three intermediate Eisberg Sprints, drawing him level with jersey wearer Domagalski going into day three.

Having started the attacks in the Northumberland National Park, once the race was heading down the counties coastline into Blyth it was Holmes again who put in numerous attempts to get away, as the peloton bore down on them.  The Madison Genesis man went clear as they made their first passage of the line in Blyth, and held on as far as the Eisberg Sprint in Seaton Sluice before being caught.

At that instant Quick-Step Floors’ Philippe Gilbert took up the reigns, threatening to hold off the peloton on the run back to Blyth, but was reeled in by the Sky and Dimension Data led peloton to set up the thrilling, but controversial sprint to the line.

Vivani has now taken five stage wins in the OVO Energy Tour of Britain since 2013, while Boasson Hagen – despite winning the race overall in 2015 – hasn’t won a stage since his previous overall victory in 2009.

 

Stage Three of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain takes place in North Lincolnshire with the race returning to the area for the first time since 2009, with the race going from Normanby Hall Country Park to Scunthorpe.  Racing begins at 11:00, with live coverage on ITV4 from 10.45am.

Stage Three Tuesday 5 September Normanby Hall Country Park to Scunthorpe 178km
Stage Four Wednesday 6 September Mansfield to Newark-on-Trent 165km
Stage Five Thursday 7 September The Tendring Stage Individual Time Trial 16km
Stage Six Friday 8 September Newmarket to Aldeburgh 187km
Stage Seven Saturday 9 September Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham 185km
Stage Eight Sunday 10 September Worcester to Cardiff 180km
Chris Maher

Chris Maher

Photographer & Writer

Based in the North East of England; photographer Chris Maher specialises in sports photography with his main interests in Cycling and Super Bikes. Chris has covered sports events from local and national level right up to the Olympics for CyclingShorts.cc.
Website: www.ChrisMaher.co.uk

Anna Magrath

Anna Magrath

Editor & Writer

Anna Magrath founded CyclingShorts.cc in 2008 and invited some of her cycling friends; coaches, photographers, writers and pro cyclists of different disciplines to join her, bringing you all things cycling related.

Over the years Anna has supported grass roots cycling events, riders and teams. Anna has a particular interest in Track, Road, womens cycling, recreational cycling and cycling related art. She has reported from the top cycle races on the world calendar including the Tour de France, Olympics, World Cups & World Championships.

Want to get involved? Why not get in touch.

CyclingShorts.cc are official sponsors of The Racing Chance Foundation, Team22 WRT, Team Jadan and cyclists Amy Gornall & Fraser Martin.

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