Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 8 [FULL STAGE]

September 10, 2017

Tour of Britain 2017 – Stage 8 – Worcester – Cardiff : 180 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.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) won a rain-soaked final stage of the Tour of Britain, taking off in the final kilometres to hold off a reduced peloton. Maximiliano Richeze (Quick Step Floors) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) rounded out the podium, while Lars Boom (LottoNL-Jumbo) defended his overall lead to take his second Tour of Britain title.

It was, surprisingly enough given the profile, another action-packed day of racing, as an early split in the peloton saw many of the GC favourites and top sprinters break away from the bulk of the riders. The intermediate sprints would be the location of much of the day’s action as riders – nine within 20 seconds of the race lead – would squabble over the time bonuses on offer.

Through the course of the stage Boasson Hagen, Boom, Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) and Stefan Küng (BMC) hoovered up the bonuses. Boasson Hagen and Kwiatkowski had only managed to gain two seconds on Boom by the final kilometres however, which prompted the Norwegian to go for broke in the final 3km.

He would succeed in holding off the reduced peloton on the technical Cardiff circuit, and gained a further ten bonus seconds, but would have to settle for second overall, eight seconds down on Boom.

“It’s really nice after all the work the other guys in the team have done earlier in the week,” Boasson Hagen said after the stage. “It’s really nice to manage to move up [on GC].”

“We had a plan before the start that if it came to a bunch sprint then I would try to attack in the last 3km,” he added. “I stayed with the plan and nobody managed to catch me. I’m really happy about that.”

Boom’s fantastic time trial performance had given him the race lead, and after two hard stages to finish the race his team’s performance was foremost in his mind when asked about how he kept it.

“It was really hard because we lost two guys. Luckily some other guys came back,” Boom said of the furious first hour’’s racing. “Then we were there with three other teammates, so we were still quite strong.

“I didn’t expect it to be that hard, with the intermediate sprints and some really tough climbs in the beginning. Luckily my legs got better in the final and then I gained some bonus seconds again. It’s a great feeling [to win].”

How it unfolded

The Tour of Britain’s final stage was greeted by the largest crowds of the race in Worcester, and the peloton was racing from the off. Small groups of riders were coming and going as soon as the flag dropped after the 15km neutralised start.

At the first sprint of the day, 33km into the stage, Boasson Ha-gen stated his intent, taking three bonus seconds to take him within 17 seconds of race leader Boom. Kwiatkowski and Küng took second and third respectively, moving them to 18 and seven seconds back.

Meanwhile the peloton had – surprisingly for a mostly flat stage – split as 35 riders went clear after 38km. Most of the major GC and sprints names made it, but Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) missed out, along with mountain classification leader Jacob Scott (AnPost-Chain Reaction). Scott’s lead came under threat as Lukasz Owsian (CCC Sprandi-Polkowice) grabbed points over the first two climbs to bring him within striking distance of the classification lead.

By the midpoint of the stage, the lead group had opened up a gap of 7 minutes and growing. With Katusha, Sky and Quick Step Floors driving the move, the chances of them staying away until Cardiff looked increasingly likely as the kilometres ticked down. With three laps of short circuit of 7km to end the stage, the peloton would eventually be prevented from continuing the race (but still classified), having fallen 14 minutes outside the 7 minute time limit.

Boasson Hagen took the second sprint point of the day but Boom was close behind, meaning the Norwegian had only gained one second. At that point, a maximum of 13 bonus seconds remained, and with 16 to make up overhauling Boom looked an implausible task.

Rather inevitably, the rain set in during the last 60km, just in time for the race’s final climb, the second category Belmont Hill. Owsian’s second place there saw him move up to take the overall lead, giving the CCC Sprandi-Polkowice man a jersey at the last possible moment.

The familiar sight of Tao Geoghegan Hart drove the peloton in pursuit of Mark Stewart (AnPost-Chain Reaction) and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), who slipped away after the climb. The pair hung out from with a gap of 30 seconds inside the final 30km, later holding a ten second gap on the technical finishing circuit.

With 8km to the finish the duo were eventually caught, while Stewart earned the day’s most combative rider award. With many of the big-name sprinters still in the lead group, a bunch sprint and a relatively easy ride for Boom, but the final sprint point of the race saw Kwiatkowski, Küng, Boasson Hagen and Boom off the front, with Boom taking second and Boasson Hagen surprisingly missing out entirely.

The peloton soon brought them back but in the final 3km Boasson Hagen struck out again. This time he would not be caught, and earned the stage win that had previously eluded him.

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

Final General Classification :
1 Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 30:56:24
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data 0:00:08
3 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:10
4 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:13
5 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky 0:00:18
6 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
7 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:24
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:25
9 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:33
10 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:38
11 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:02
12 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
13 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:04
14 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:05
15 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
16 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:21
17 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin 0:01:23
18 Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:27
19 Karol Domagalski (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:01:30
20 James Oram (NZl) One Pro Cycling
21 Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:01:42
22 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team 0:01:44
23 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:52
24 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team 0:01:53
25 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:03
26 Brenton Jones (Aus) JLT Condor 0:02:05
27 Dion Smith (NZl) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
28 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott 0:02:20
29 James Shaw (GBr) Lotto Soudal 0:02:26
30 Tiago Machado (Por) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:38
31 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
32 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
33 Mark Stewart (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:02:49
34 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:52
35 Daniel Martin (Irl) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:32
36 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
37 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:59
38 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:04:59
39 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:08:19
40 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:08:43
41 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky 0:08:49
42 Enrico Barbin (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:26
43 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:09:53
44 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:13:20
45 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:14:58
46 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:15:41
47 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Great Britain 0:20:25
48 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 0:21:48
49 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:21:56
50 Kamil Gradek (Pol) One Pro Cycling 0:22:14
51 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:22:40
52 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:22:45
53 Oliver Wood (GBr) Great Britain 0:23:16
54 Jan Tratnik (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:25:11
55 Jay Thompson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:26:44
56 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:27:29
57 Senne Leysen (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:29:22
58 Hayden Mccormick (NZl) One Pro Cycling 0:30:12
59 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:30:22
60 Eric Marcotte (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:30:53
61 Russell Downing (GBr) JLT Condor 0:31:11
62 Matthew Teggart (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:32:19
63 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data 0:33:11
64 Steele Von Hoff (Aus) One Pro Cycling 0:34:17
65 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:34:41
66 Kyle Murphy (USA) Cylance Cycling 0:35:07
67 Dexter Gardias (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:35:31
68 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data 0:35:40
69 Rory Townsend (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:35:41
70 Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:36:51
71 Alistair Slater (GBr) JLT Condor 0:37:20
72 Regan Gough (NZl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:38:11
73 Roger Kluge (Ger) Orica-Scott 0:38:35
74 Peter Williams (GBr) One Pro Cycling 0:38:52
75 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:38:58
76 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:39:09
77 Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis 0:39:21
78 Thomas Gibbons (USA) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:39:28
79 Ian Bibby (GBr) JLT Condor 0:41:47
80 Jonathan Mcevoy (GBr) Madison Genesis 0:43:21
81 Taylor Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis 0:43:37
82 Jacob Scott (GBr) An Post Chain Reaction 0:43:50
83 Sean Mckenna (Irl) An Post Chain Reaction 0:44:35
84 Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:44:42
85 Andres Diaz (Ven) Cylance Cycling 0:44:47
86 Harry Tanfield (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:45:14
87 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:45:56
88 Alan Banaszek (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:49:00
89 Marcin Bialoblocki (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:50:27
90 Robert Partridge (GBr) Bike Channel Canyon 0:52:07
91 Jacob Hennessy (GBr) Great Britain 1:00:15
92 Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor 1:10:02