Stannard, second-placed Graham Briggs (JLT-Condor) and third-placed Kristian House (ONE Pro Cycling) all uploaded their rides to Strava, and all three broke the 50km/h barrier at the start of the stage as they sought to get into the break.

On the ‘Spen Green to Four End Lanes’ segment in Sandbach, Stannard powered the trio – with Madison-Genesis’ Matt Cronshaw also in tow – away from the peloton, putting out 378 watts in the process.

Briggs’ heart rate was recorded at 173bpm as he followed, with a power output of 342w, while House put out 365w.

Compared to riders in the peloton, such as Movistar’s Alex Dowsett or NFTO’s Ian Bibby, who took the segment at a sedate pace as the break went away, there’s big difference.

Dowsett’s power meter recorded a power output of 71 watts, and Bibby’s 79 watts. Movistar’s Gio Visconti, who had his nose in the wind, only just touched triple figures too.

Having made the breakaway, Stannard, House and Briggs still had to make it stick and all three spent most much of their day riding at tempo.

When Stannard attacked, there was nothing his former breakaway companions, or indeed the rest of the peloton, could do.

The Team Sky man set a new Strava KOM on the 40km stretch from the top of the Cat and Fiddle climb to Knutsford, where he eked out a big overall advantage.

His cadence peaked at a maximum of 208rpm as he put down the power to get away from House and Briggs – corresponding with a peak power output of 1210 watts.

Stannard’s time from the A54, just past the summit of ‘The Cat’, to Bosley, some 14km later and with the Team Sky man leading solo and on his way to certain victory, was nearly a minute and a half faster than the peloton as a result.

The entire 40km segment to Knutsford saw him set an average cadence of 85rpm and put out just a little more than 300 watts on average, for a speed of 43.8km/h.

Stannard’s victory, his first of the 2016 season, maintains Team Sky’s record of having won at least one stage of their ‘home’ race in every edition since the squad’s formation in 2010.