Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

September 05, 2017

Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 3 – Normanby Hall Country Park – Scunthorpe : 178 km

The 2017 Tour of Britain is a eight-stage men’s professional road cycling race. It is the fourteenth running of the modern version of the Tour of Britain and the 77th British tour in total. The race starts on 3 September in Edinburgh and finishes on 10 September in Cardiff. The race is part of the 2017 UCI Europe Tour.

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, gray 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.

Results :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 4:04:05
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
3 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
4 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
5 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
7 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
8 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
10 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
11 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
12 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
13 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
14 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
15 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
16 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
17 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
18 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
19 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
20 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
21 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
22 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain
23 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
24 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
25 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
26 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
27 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
28 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
29 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
30 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
31 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling
32 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
33 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
34 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
35 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
36 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
37 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
38 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
39 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
40 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
41 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
42 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
43 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
44 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling
45 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
46 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling
47 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
48 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling
49 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
50 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
51 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
52 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
53 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
54 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
55 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor
56 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
57 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
58 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
59 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
60 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
61 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
62 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
63 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
64 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
65 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
66 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction
67 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain
68 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
69 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
70 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
71 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
72 James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
73 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
74 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:00:15
75 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain
76 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:30
77 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:00:48
78 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
79 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:00:50
80 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:57
81 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:05
82 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data
83 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling
84 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
85 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
86 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
87 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
88 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
89 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
90 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis
91 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
92 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
93 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
94 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
95 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor
96 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
97 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:01:43
98 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain
99 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:02:05
100 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky
101 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
102 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
103 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
104 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling
105 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
106 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling
107 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
108 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
109 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:02:22
110 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:02:50
111 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:02:59
112 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:03:23
113 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain 0:03:52
114 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:03:55
115 Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling
116 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:28
117 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:05:50
DNS Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 13:54:34
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:06
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:00:07
4 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:00:14
5 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:15
6 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling
7 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:16
8 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
9 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:18
10 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:20
11 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
12 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor
13 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
14 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
15 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Great Britain
16 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team
17 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
18 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
19 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
20 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
21 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal
22 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
23 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
24 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
25 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
26 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
27 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
28 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
29 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
30 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling
31 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
32 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
33 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky
34 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
35 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott
36 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction
37 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
38 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
39 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal
40 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
41 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
42 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
43 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor
44 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team
45 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
46 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
47 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
48 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
49 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
50 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky
51 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
52 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
53 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
54 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin
55 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
56 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky
57 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors
58 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon
59 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
60 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
61 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Movistar Team
62 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
63 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
64 James Knox (GBr) Great Britain
65 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain 0:00:35
66 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:39
67 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:01:41
68 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:02:04
69 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:08
70 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling 0:02:10
71 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction
72 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling
73 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:02:25
74 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
75 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:02:45
76 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:03:15
77 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
78 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data
79 James Gullen (GBr) JLT Condor
80 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:03:17
81 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:03:42
82 James Lowsley-Williams (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:06:46
83 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF
84 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
85 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal
86 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:16
87 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:07:34
88 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
89 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:07:43
90 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:07:46
91 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:07:48
92 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:07:51
93 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling
94 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
95 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling
96 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
97 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
98 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis
99 Damien Shaw (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction
100 Bryan Lewis (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:08:12
101 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 0:08:29
102 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:08:51
103 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling
104 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data 0:08:55
105 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:10:49
106 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:10:51
107 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:11:02
108 Rob Power (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:11:34
109 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:12:18
110 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:12:32
111 Orlando Garibay (Mex) Cylance Cycling 0:13:30
112 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
113 Matthew Holmes (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:14:17
114 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:15:07
115 Chris Opie (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:16:25
116 Adam Hartley (GBr) Great Britain 0:17:23
117 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 0:27:52