Solo escape nets Taylor the win at Westbury Criterium

Josh Taylor (GPM-Wilson Racing) bravely attacked his breakaway companions in the final laps to claim victory on Stage 3 of the Tour of Tasmania.

Taylor escaped shortly after the 10th sprint on lap 24 of the 30-lap criterium, unsurprisingly earning the most-aggressive rider award for the stage. The talented youngster recently won both the sprint and KOM classifications at the Tour of Murray River.

Recent addition to Search2Retain, Scott Law won the battle for second place with Australian criterium champion Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisers) rounding out the podium with the pair leading the chase bunch 18-seconds in arrears of Taylor.

Overnight leader Mark O'Brien (Team Budget Forklifts) was in the group a further five seconds back, shrinking his 12-second advantage on GC down to just four heading into the afternoon road stage.

Blustery conditions made for tough-going on Thursday with the field splitting early. Felt NZ's Daniel Barry earned a small lead on the peloton in the opening laps before Adam Phelan (Drapac)  and Taylor's teammate Caleb Jones worked for a 12-second gap. Will Walker (Drapac) bridged across with the trio scooping up the points on the sixth intermediate sprint before gradually being reeled in with 17 laps complete.

With the field back together, overnight leader in the Sewell Sweepers Sprint Championship, Neil Van Der Ploeg pounced, taking second behind Jones in the next intermediate sprint, ensuring he kept hold of the jersey by a meagre two points.

Taylor joined with James Williamson (PureBlack Racing) with around 10 laps remaining with the pair opening up a 19-second advantage before Taylor made the call to go it alone. The GPS-Wilson Racing rider's lead was as much as 35-seconds with the peloton splitting in pursuit.

Meantime, Calvin Watson (Jayco - Apollo - VIS) was fined $100 and penalised 20 seconds for not obeying commissaire instructions regarding criterium start procedure.

Full results