Julian Alaphilippe wins 2018 Tour of Britain

Until he roared up Lower Regent Street to take a decisive stage victory, Caleb Ewan had endured a frustrating final week to close an utterly frustrating season, so the joy on his face spoke volumes, as he continued celebrating most of the way up to Piccadilly Circus. The victory came in his final race with the Mitchelton-Scott team, ensuring that his time with them came to a happy conclusion. 

Not far behind, Julian Alaphilippe celebrated his first stag- race victory since the Tour of California in 2016 with a tap on the back of the rider next to him. The Frenchman wasn’t saying thanks to a team mate however, but apologising to Bardiani’s Paolo Simion for having leaned on him in the final gallop to the line just behind Ewan. But he did the necessary as expected, holding on to his 17-second lead ahead of Team Sky's Wout Poels.

The final 77 kilometres of the Tour of Britain followed their traditional pattern: effusive crowds lining the barriers and a battle for the intermediate sprints, which on this occasion had an edge to it as Madison-Genesis’s Matt Holmes was out to oust Canyon-Eisberg’s Ben Paton from the only jersey in which the British domestic teams had an interest. Come the final sprint, Holmes led out, only for Paton to put in a massive effort to come past and clinch the award.

As usual in London, the breaks failed, although the spectators did get to witness a crowd pleasing attack from Chris Froome, and a longer-lasting effort from Vasil Kiriyenka. The final kilometres were marked by the young Great Britain team putting in a lengthy lead-out, only for the WorldTour teams to whizz past them at the critical moment with just over a kilometre to go. GB were rewarded, however, when Ethan Hayter traded pedal strokes with Fernando Gaviria and Ewan to take fifth place, not long before his 20th birthday.

The final sprint belonged to Ewan, who had had to grit his teeth the previous day when the chase behind stage winner Ian Stannard and the rest of the break fell short, and who had been a frustrated man since Mitchelton dropped him from their Tour de France team in late June. He had not won a major race since February and the Almeria Classic, hence his delight.

“This year hasn’t been great for me so I wanted to finish off with a good result,” said Ewan, who joins Lotto Soudal for 2019. “I was so motivated to win the stage, and I’m glad I had good legs at the end. It gives me a bit of confidence going into next year.”

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