Politt goes clear 8 kilometres from the finish
Nils Politt won the fifth and final stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday in Earlston, Scotland. The German jumped clear on his own from the front group with eight kilometres left and never saw anyone get back to him.
His teammate Florian Vermeersch took second, six seconds down. Filippo Ganna, riding for Netcompany-Ineos, won the sprint for third. UAE Team Emirates-XRG had the day under control from start to finish.
The stage covered 156,1 kilometres. Three climbs of the Lammermuir Hills came in the middle of the route, before two final 19,4-kilometre circuits around Earlston. It was the wind, more than the gradients, that split the race apart.
Try it for $0.99.
The crosswinds did the damage
Netcompany-Ineos turned the screws on the exposed section of Redstone Rig. The bunch split, and the gap to the early break came down by a minute in one go. UAE then kicked again on the climb of Duddy Bank. The race was shattered.
At the foot of Hardens Hill, the third climb, the break was caught. A group of 11 riders went clear. Tim Wellens had four teammates in it: Benoit Cosnefroy, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch and Mikkel Bjerg. Ganna and Connor Swift completed the picture for Netcompany.
The front group stretched its lead to 1’20 over 16 chasers on the first pass over the line. That gap did not budge before Politt launched his move.
Wellens wraps up a perfect week
Tim Wellens finished eighth on the stage, comfortably ahead of his nearest rival in the general classification. He took the leader’s jersey on stage four, with a 21-second lead over Lewis Askey. He never looked like losing it.
It was the Belgian’s 43rd career victory and his second of the season, after Clasica Jaen in February.
“We came here for the overall, and today we also take the stage win, so everything is perfect,” Wellens said. He explained that his team had not planned to force the issue. “We just wanted to defend the leader’s jersey. Then all of a sudden, in the crosswinds, Ineos started to ride really hard, so we just followed.”
Wellens now heads to the Grands Prix de Quebec and Montreal before returning to Europe to finish his season.
Discover the rest of the cycling news on our mathodds website and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply