Tour of Britain: Ewan wins stage 3

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The Tour of Britain saw another close finish on stage 3, as Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) took his second win in three days in Scunthorpe. Norwegian duo Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) rounded out the top-three.

An uphill finish had raised questions about whether today would be one for the puncheurs or another for the fast-men, but with so many top quality sprinters at the race, it would take something special to overcome them.

Indeed, the pace-setting by Team Sky, Dimension Data and Katusha almost came to naught as Philippe Gilbert (Quick Step Floors) made his bid for glory as the peloton hit the incline of the final two kilometers. It was a show of strength that signals his form a few weeks ahead of the World Championships, but he would fall short of the victory by 50 meters.

With Gilbert caught, the race was back in the sprinter's hands, and three emerged with a clear gap over the rest of the peloton. As with stage 1, Ewan had the best line, hugging the barriers to beat Boasson Hagen to the line by a wheel-length.

"I was a bit disappointed after yesterday," Ewan said. "I was boxed in during the sprint so I never got to open up [my sprint]. Luckily the team still backed me 100 per cent, and we rode like we were going for the win straight from the start.

"I didn't know how I would feel [today], and I suffered a little on the climb. When [Philippe] Gilbert went, I had to pretty much go full gas. I was dying in the end and luckily it was enough to hold on."

Ewan, who took the leader's jersey back from Elia Viviani (Team Sky), triumphed in spite of the poor weather conditions that dogged the stage.

"It was a tough stage all day. There was a little bit of wind and rain about I don't go that good in the cold anymore. I'm constantly chasing the sun around so when it gets cold and wet I start to feel not so great."

How it unfolded

On a damp, grey afternoon in North Lincolnshire, the break of the day didn't have much trouble establishing itself. Within ten kilometers an all-British break consisting of Pete Williams (ONE Pro Cycling), Harry Tanfield (Bike Channel-Canyon), Matthew Holmes (Madison-Genesis), Ian Bibby and Graham Briggs (both JLT-Condor) had gone clear.

The five quickly amassed a gap of three minutes before some solid JLT teamwork saw Briggs take the first sprint point of the day, earning the virtual red jersey. He would go on to take the maximum points available at the two remaining sprints, earning him a nine point lead over One Pro Cycling's Karol Domagalski.

Briggs, who hails from nearby Doncaster, also leads the mountain classification having led the break over all the first two of the stage's three classified climbs.

For much of the stage, Sky and Orica-Scott were visible at the front of the peloton, ready for the anticipated uphill sprint finish in Scunthorpe. Heading into the final 30km, Katusha also joined the pace-making efforts as the gap to the breakaway started to fall.

The sun came out just in time for the final run-in to Scunthorpe, with the break fracturing just before the final climb of the day at 15km from the finish. After all his hard work Briggs was understandably the first to go, with Tanfield also falling back.

A final flourish from Bibby saw him take the final mountain points of the day, but with 11km to go the peloton made the catch. There were counter-attacks from Rob Partridge (Bike Channel-Canyon) and Simone Andreetta (Bardiani-CSF) but neither made any headway.

The final kilometers saw a flurry of different teams on the front of the peloton, including a short stint from CCC Sprandi-Polkowice. In the final 5km, it was Dimension Data who took control, as they looked to set up Edvald Boasson Hagen for a win after the disappointment of yesterday's demotion.

Ever the opportunist, Gilbert launched off the front on the uphill drag to the finish, and it looked for a moment as if he would spoil the sprinter's party. But as the road flattened the charging peloton bore down on the Belgian, and he was swallowed up in the final 50 meters.

Then, it was up to the eventual podium trio to battle it out amongst themselves, the class of the field. In another close finish, it was Ewan who prevailed over the two Norwegians.

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