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Stage 2 – results
GB’s Roger Hammond takes today’s win in style after a bunch sprint.
The 32 year old Discovery Channel rider, who is captaining the Great Britain team here on the Tour of Britain, was the strongest sprinter in a line up that includes World Champion Tom Boonen.
Following the start in Blackpool, two Davatamon-Lotto riders made an early break after just 5 kilometres. The bunch worked well to ensure the riders were unable to stay away.
Hammond’s winning ride now moves him up to fourth place in the general classification with four stages left before the finish on The Mall in London. However, he is 2minute 44second behind the race leaders.
He commented: “This is a totally different feeling to last year when I won the stage but the race was already over. I didn’t even think about winning until the last five kilometres but it was a great team effort from Great Britain.”
South Australia’s Mathew Goss is now wears the leaders yellow jersey with an advantage of just two seconds over Martin Pedersen of team CSC.
He commented: “I’m stoked to be wearing the yellow jersey. This is the biggest Tour that I’ve ever led. It’s going to be tough to hold on to it.”
Tomorrow’s stage is due to start at Bradford’s City Hall and Yorkshireman Russell Downing will be looking for a good ride into his home town, Sheffield. After a strong ride today Downing is wearing the green points jersey.
He commented: “My aim was to come here and ride consistently and get to the front most days. Tomorrow is my home town and I’ll be aiming to do well.”
1 Hammond, Roger Great Britain 3h54’15”
2 Vierhouten, Aart Skil-Shimano @ same time
3 Downing, Russell DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed @ same time
4 Cavendish, Mark T-Mobile @ same time
5 Vanlandschoot, James Landbouwkrediet-Colnago @ same time
6 Chicchi, Francesco QuickStep-Innergetic @ same time
7 Rasmussen, Alex Denmark @ same time
8 Degano, Enrico Barloworld @ same time
9 Weissinger, Rene Skil-Shimano @ same time
10 Hunt, Jeremy Unibet.com @ same time
11 Tjallingii, Maarten Skil-Shimano @ same time
12 Keisse, Iljo Chocolade Jacques-Topsport @ same time
13 Grillo, Paride Ceramica Panaria-Navigare @ same time
14 Downing, Dean DFL-Cycling News-Litespeed @ same time
15 Lisabeth, Kenny Chocolade Jacques-Topsport @ same time
16 Boonen, Tom QuickStep-Innergetic @ same time
17 Pasamontes, Luis Unibet.com @ same time
18 Cappelle, Andy Landbouwkrediet-Colnago @ same time
19 Gates, Nick Davitamon Lotto @ same time
20 Goss, Mathew South Australia.com-AIS @ same time
Stage 3: Bradford to Sheffield – Thursday 31st August
Yorkshire hosts the third stage of this year’s Tour of Britain, and the day’s racing looks set to be the toughest stage of the race, with riders facing the prospect of barely one stretch of flat road all day. The day’s racing starts at Bradford’s Centenary Square at 10:15am.
The neutralised section of this stage will be about 7.9kms long, so the race will begin properly at about 10:30am at the Stansfield Arms to the North of Bradford. Riders will begin to climb up towards Beckwithshaw on the B6161 and will begin the King of the Mountains section at around 10:45am.
Catch the first sprint of the day as the race heads through Harrogate. Riders will dash past the church on the A6040 from 11:05am. From Harrogate, the race will turn for Wetherby and Tadcaster
Riders will be refueling on the go at the feed station located by the Spread Eagle pub in Darrington from around 12:35pm, so it’ll be a great spot to watch them grab a drink as you sit with yours.
Millhouse Green hosts the second sprint of the day from 1:30pm. Watch the riders stream past Croft Drive in a bid to win vital points.
Two King of the Mountain stages follow in quick succession as the race crosses the stunning Bradfield Moors. It is here that the Tour of Britain takes in The Strines area of the moors for the first time in its history.
There are two grueling hills here, one ending just before The Strines coaching inn. Between 1:50pm and 2:15pm, riders will be battling up the taxing climbs of this wonderful bit of landscape as they chase the polka dot jersey that denotes the best climber.
Hathersage hosts the third sprint of the day at about 2:25pm before the race turns towards the home straight and the finishline at Pinstone Street in Sheffield. Expect the riders to finish at about 2:45pm.
