Tour of Britain: Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 7

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Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) won stage 7 of the OVO Energy Tour of Britain. The Dutchman sprinted up the short but steep climb atop Burton Dassett, Warwickshire, beating Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) by one second and Simon Clarke (EF Education First) by three second.

"I saw that there was still someone on my wheel," said Van der Poel of his winning attack on the final climb through Burton Dassett Park. "It was a flatter part in the climb and there I took the time to recover and get some breath again so I could focus on the final 200m sprint.

"I feel pretty good. I feel better day-by-day and I surprised myself with the TT yesterday.  I think it’s an indication of my shape if you can ride that fast over 14km on your own. 

"I knew that finishes like today suit me well. It was a pretty hard day. The first 70km there were a lot of attacks and the team handled it perfectly. They did an amazing job. 

"I knew from the penultimate climb that it was up to me in the group favourites. I was all alone and I had to gamble a little bit but coming into the final ascent I knew that I had a pretty good chance to take the win today.

The gamble paid off for Van der Poel, who not only took the stage win, but extended his lead to 12 seconds ahead of Trentin and 40 seconds to Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) ahead of the finale stage 8's 166km race into Manchester.

More to follow...

How it unfolded

Stage 7 at the Tour of Britain was a 186km stage from Warwick in central England into a series of 12km finishing circuits that ended with a climb at Burton Dassett Country Park (1.7km at 5 per cent).

The stage included three intermediate sprints at Berkswell (19km), Brinklow (80km), and Pillerton Priors (142km). The toughest part of the stage included a succession of four categorised climbs: Friz Hill (134km), Sun Rising Hill (149km), and two ascents of the climb through Burton Dassett (163km and 175km) before the final ascent to the finish line.

Van der Poel started the day with a six-second lead over Trentin in the overall classification. Given the punchy stage suited his capabilities, it seemed unlikely that anyone could take the lead from him.

After van der Poel tried an early attack and chased down, a breakaway of three cleared the field in the first 40km. It included Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale), Remy Mertz (Lotto Soudal) and Alex Colman (Canyon dhb). Gallopin was the best-placed rider in the move at 3:44 minutes down, and so they posed little threat to van der Poel.

They passed through Atherstone with a 35-second advantage, just enough of a gap to tempt riders back in the peloton to make the bridge. Ben Swift (Team Ineos) and Connor Swift (Great Britain) teamed up in pursuit of the breakaway it was a short-lived move, as it all came back together.

The counter-move included Dylan van Baarle (Team Ineos) and Cameron Meyer (Mitchelton-Scott), 1:15 down in the overall classification, both clearing the field as they raced into Bedworth. That gap pushed out to over a minute after they crossed through the intermediate sprint in Brinklow.

The leaders continued to gain time nearly 2:30, on the Corendon-Circus-led peloton. Meanwhile, Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale) and Carlos Verona (Movistar) attempted to bridge to the leading duo but wound up in no man’s land, unable to connect with the leaders up the road. They recognized that their efforts were futile and eventually sat up and let the peloton catch them.

Meyer and Van Baarle had a healthy gap of 2:40 as they raced over Friz Hill, 134km into the stage, and toward the final 12km circuits.

As they race onto the circuits, Corendon-Circus brought the gap down to under one minute as they rode for van der Poel. By the time the breakaway hit the second circuit, however, Van Baarle was the only rider left out front, as the attacks flurried behind him from the peloton.

A front group of favourites raced into the base of the final ascent all looking for the stage win. It was Van der Poel, once again, who proved strongest by taking his second stage win and extending his lead in the overall classification.

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