Tour of Britain: Lars Boom wins overall

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Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) won a rain-soaked final stage of the Tour of Britain, taking off in the final kilometres to hold off a reduced peloton. Maximiliano Richeze (Quick Step Floors) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) rounded out the podium, while Lars Boom (LottoNL-Jumbo) defended his overall lead to take his second Tour of Britain title.

It was, surprisingly enough given the profile, another action-packed day of racing, as an early split in the peloton saw many of the GC favourites and top sprinters break away from the bulk of the riders. The intermediate sprints would be the location of much of the day's action as riders - nine within 20 seconds of the race lead - would squabble over the time bonuses on offer.

Through the course of the stage Boasson Hagen, Boom, Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) and Stefan Küng (BMC) hoovered up the bonuses. Boasson Hagen and Kwiatkowski had only managed to gain two seconds on Boom by the final kilometres however, which prompted the Norwegian to go for broke in the final 3km.

He would succeed in holding off the reduced peloton on the technical Cardiff circuit, and gained a further ten bonus seconds, but would have to settle for second overall, eight seconds down on Boom.

"It's really nice after all the work the other guys in the team have done earlier in the week," Boasson Hagen said after the stage. "It's really nice to manage to move up [on GC]."

"We had a plan before the start that if it came to a bunch sprint then I would try to attack in the last 3km," he added. "I stayed with the plan and nobody managed to catch me. I'm really happy about that."

Boom's fantastic time trial performance had given him the race lead, and after two hard stages to finish the race his team's performance was foremost in his mind when asked about how he kept it.

"It was really hard because we lost two guys. Luckily some other guys came back," Boom said of the furious first hour’'s racing. "Then we were there with three other teammates, so we were still quite strong.

"I didn't expect it to be that hard, with the intermediate sprints and some really tough climbs in the beginning. Luckily my legs got better in the final and then I gained some bonus seconds again. It's a great feeling [to win]."

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How it unfolded

The Tour of Britain's final stage was greeted by the largest crowds of the race in Worcester, and the peloton was racing from the off. Small groups of riders were coming and going as soon as the flag dropped after the 15km neutralised start.

At the first sprint of the day, 33km into the stage, Boasson Ha-gen stated his intent, taking three bonus seconds to take him within 17 seconds of race leader Boom. Kwiatkowski and Küng took second and third respectively, moving them to 18 and seven seconds back.

Meanwhile the peloton had - surprisingly for a mostly flat stage - split as 35 riders went clear after 38km. Most of the major GC and sprints names made it, but Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) missed out, along with mountain classification leader Jacob Scott (AnPost-Chain Reaction). Scott's lead came under threat as Lukasz Owsian (CCC Sprandi-Polkowice) grabbed points over the first two climbs to bring him within striking distance of the classification lead.

By the midpoint of the stage, the lead group had opened up a gap of 7 minutes and growing. With Katusha, Sky and Quick Step Floors driving the move, the chances of them staying away until Cardiff looked increasingly likely as the kilometres ticked down. With three laps of short circuit of 7km to end the stage, the peloton would eventually be prevented from continuing the race (but still classified), having fallen 14 minutes outside the 7 minute time limit.

Boasson Hagen took the second sprint point of the day but Boom was close behind, meaning the Norwegian had only gained one second. At that point, a maximum of 13 bonus seconds remained, and with 16 to make up overhauling Boom looked an implausible task.

Rather inevitably, the rain set in during the last 60km, just in time for the race's final climb, the second category Belmont Hill. Owsian's second place there saw him move up to take the overall lead, giving the CCC Sprandi-Polkowice man a jersey at the last possible moment.

The familiar sight of Tao Geoghegan Hart drove the peloton in pursuit of Mark Stewart (AnPost-Chain Reaction) and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), who slipped away after the climb. The pair hung out from with a gap of 30 seconds inside the final 30km, later holding a ten second gap on the technical finishing circuit.

With 8km to the finish the duo were eventually caught, while Stewart earned the day's most combative rider award. With many of the big-name sprinters still in the lead group, a bunch sprint and a relatively easy ride for Boom, but the final sprint point of the race saw Kwiatkowski, Küng, Boasson Hagen and Boom off the front, with Boom taking second and Boasson Hagen surprisingly missing out entirely.

The peloton soon brought them back but in the final 3km Boasson Hagen struck out again. This time he would not be caught, and earned the stage win that had previously eluded him.

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