Julien Vermote (Etixx-QuickStep) claimed the stage win and the yellow jersey on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain. He out-paced breakaway companion Steve Cummings (Dimension Data), in second, on the tough finale in Kendal. Dan Martin (Etixx-QuickStep) finished third.
Vermote now leads the overall classification by six seconds ahead of Cummings and 1:04 ahead of Dan Martin.
Vermote was part of a large breakaway that formed early in the stage, later joined by Cummings, Martin, Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), Rohan Dennis (BMC) and Ben Swift (Sky) over the Struggle climb. Cummings attacked several times until only Vermote could stay on his wheel, but in the end it was the Etixx rider who took the stage honours.
