Tour of Britain: Edvald Boasson Hagen secures overall win

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André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) appeared to have landed a second successive win during the final stage of the Tour of Britain in London, while Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka) sealed final overall victory. But Greipel's relegation for irregular riding handed the final stage win to Team Sky's Elia Viviani.

Viviani crossed the line with a hand raced in protest at a deviation from Greipel in the finishing straight, which forced him wide against the barriers.

Greipel and Viviani brushed shoulders as the German came past, and though Viviani managed to stay upright, his sprint was impeded and he crossed the line second.

Once reviewed by the judges, the win was overturned and granted to Viviani, who was disappointed despite the victory. "After yesterday I saw I had good speed in the legs after a really hard week, so we thought we could win today," Viviani said. "The guys did amazing work and have done all week for Wout [Poels] and myself. We had a really strong team for this race. I'm disappointed because it is better to win without this. But we won in London, and that is the main thing."

Juan José Lobato (Movistar) took third place ahead of Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), while Boasson Hagen finished safely in fifth place to seal his overall victory, 13 seconds clear of Wout Poels (Sky).

"The team did a fantastic job today," Boasson Hagen said at the finish. "The pace was quite high from the beginning but we stayed in control for most of the time. When the group went we kept watchful. I’m really happy to win the overall. It has been a fantastic week with good crowds and a good support."

Owain Doull (Great Britain) picked up the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint that he needed to leapfrog Rasmus Guldhammer (Cult Energy) on the final stage to finish 3rd overall, 42 seconds down on Boasson Hagen. The Welshman also claimed the points classification.

For Boasson Hagen, the win marks his second Tour of Britain overall victory following his triumph in the 2009 edition of the race and augurs well for his prospects at the World Championships in Richmond, where he will line up alongside Alexander Kristoff in the Norwegian team.

Results

Sprint 1, Lap 3

Sprint 2, Lap 6