World champion reluctantly exchanges his rainbow jersey as time bonuses give him the lead
Having said the day before that he had no intention of exchanging his precious rainbow jersey for gold, Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) did so after the fourth stage of the 2012 Tour of Britain, as he sprinted to his second straight victory. The World champion won another untidy sprint on Blackpool’s Golden Mile after his Sky team had shattered the peloton in the final 25km; he allowed lead out man Luke Rowe to drift off the front - as he had done on stage two - but this time was able to come around race leader Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge) to take the stage.
A ten-second time bonus on the line for Cavendish saw him take over the race’s gold jersey from Howard, who could only manage third, as compatriot Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) came past him on the line.
“Bradley [Wiggins] lives not far from Blackpool and the route included a lot of the roads he uses for training,” explained Cavendish after the finish. “He told us it was very open, and very windy, and he knew the exact place we should go on the attack. It was the perfect call.
“It was a grim day but we ploughed through and waited until that moment 22km from home to split things apart, and although it was difficult to do that with a small team, the fact Endura were riding as well made it easier.
“On those last 5km along the front we just made it so fast that nobody else could get close to us.
“We’d expected a crosswind, but in the end it felt like a tailwind, and we were flying," the World champion added. "Luke’s going for the overall so we tried to let him get a bit of a gap like the other day, but then Leigh Howard jumped so I had to go with him, and then it was quite straightforward for me in the sprint."
The 156km stage between Carlisle and Blackpool saw the peloton race under heavy rain as it crossed the Lake District, but it was the wind on the flatter final section that allowed Team Sky to blow the peloton apart.
The break of the day came from mountains leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor), Ronan McLaughlin (AN Post-Sean Kelly), Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth), Dan Craven (IG-Sigma Sport), Mathew Cronshaw (Node4-Giordana) and David Lelay (Saur-Sojasun). The six riders escaped in the opening kilometres, and managed to open a maximum lead of almost seven minutes before they reached the first hills of the stage.
With the peloton closing in the group was reduced to four with 40km to go, as House and Gustavsson were left behind, then down to two in the final 15km as a McLaughlan attack pulled Craven clear, but were caught by the peloton with just under ten to go. The crosswinds of the final 25km had seen Team Sky go on the offensive however, and the group that eventually caught the breakaway riders was less than 30 riders strong.
Team Sky and Endura Racing continued to keep the pace high into Blackpool and, despite Cavendish allowing Howard to overtake him in the finishing straight, cruised past him at the finish to take the win.
Another break in the rain but it's the wind that has the final word
House, McLaughlin, Gustavsson, Craven, Cronshaw and Lelay jumped away in the opening kilometres and were 6’50 clear by the time they had ridden 30km. This was as far as they were to get however and, as Gustavsson led over the first intermediate sprint in Shap after 43km, and House led over the 2nd category climb of Shap Fell after 51.8km, the gap closed to six minutes where it was allowed to remain.
Gustavsson was by far the best placed of the six riders, just 17 seconds down on Howard at the start of the day and, as he picked up bonus seconds, he was getting closer.
The peloton was led by race leader Howard’s Orica-GreenEdge team, as Cronshaw took the second sprint in Kendall after 66.7km, and House led over the 2nd category Old Hutton climb after 79.9km, but then Team Sky came forward and steadily slashed the gap to 3’20” at the 100km point.
The sextet’s lead continued to fall, and was below two minutes with 50km to go as Endura Racing joined the chase. The heavy rain had left large puddles though, and areas of standing water right across the road in places, which slowed the peloton’s progress a little.
Cronshaw took the third sprint, in Caton after 106.4km, then House rolled over the top of the 3rd category climb of Quernmore with 42km to go. Shortly after the group descended the other side Cronshaw attacked and McLaughlin, Craven and Lelaywent with him. Gustavsson and House were left behind and steadily drifted back to the chasing peloton.
The new impetus in the break saw its lead begin to rise and, with Gustavsson back in the fold, the immediate danger to Howard’s lead had passed and it reached 2’20”with 30km to go. As the peloton hit the exposed roads with 25km to go though, Team Sky, Orica-GreenEdge and NetApp lifted the pace and began to split the peloton into pieces.
With 22km to go the gap to the leaders had been slashed to less than 1’30”, but the yellow jersey group was now less than 30 riders. The entire Sky team was present, along with most of Endura Racing, Orica-GreenEdge, as well as some from UnitedHealthcare and UK Youth.
Inside the final 15km the four leaders were just 32 seconds ahead, and were in sight of the yellow jersey group - which was led by Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins - on some of the straighter roads. Two kilometres later - when the gap was just 20 seconds - McLaughlin attacked and was alone as he crossed the exposed Wyre river bridge. Craven fought his way across to the Irishman as Lelay and Cronshaw were caught and passed by the bunch behind them.
At the ten kilometres to go banner though, the two leaders were just eight seconds clear and they shook hands and sat up. Having caught the break Team Sky and Endura Racing kept the pressure on, and the speed high, as the remains of the peloton entered the outskirts of Blackpool. The second part of the main field was now almost a minute and a half behind, and had virtually no chance of closing the gap.
Four kilometres from the line McLaughlin tried to jump away again, but Team Sky was having none of it and calmly closed him down within a few hundred metres. Christian Knees led the bunch onto the Golden Mile with two Endura Racing riders on his wheel, Wiggins took the line across the road however, with Rowe and Cavendish on his wheel as they entered the final kilometre.
Cavendish allowed Rowe to detach from the front of the line with just a few hundred metres to go, and Howard came around as he had done on stage two. This time the World champion had got it right though, and cruised past him with 50 metres to go.
Ten seconds on the line saw Cavendish take the gold jersey from Howard, even though he has said that he wanted to avoid it and keep his rainbow jersey on for as long as possible.
“I won’t win it, I’ll lose it tomorrow,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll win it with the team; we’ve a really strong team.”
Tour of Britain (2.1)
September 12, Stage 4: Carlisle - Blackpool
1, Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) 156 kilometres in 3 hours 51 mins 33 secs
2, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin - Sharp)
3, Leigh Howard (Orica - GreenEdge)
4, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare)
5, Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp)
6, Russell Downing (Endura Racing)
7, Magnus Backstedt (UK Youth Cycling)
8, Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin - Sharp)
9, Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun)
10, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling)
11, Peter Williams (Node 4 - Giordana)
12, Damiano Caruso (Liquigas - Cannondale)
13, Nathan Haas (Garmin - Sharp)
14, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing)
15, Yanto Barker (UK Youth Cycling)
16, Brett Lancaster (Orica - GreenEdge)
17, Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare)
18, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling)
19, Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp)
20, Zak Dempster (Endura Racing) at 9 secs
21, Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling)
22, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun)
23, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) at 11 secs
24, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 39 secs
25, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) at 43 secs
26, Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) at 1 min 5 secs
27, Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling)
28, David Clarke (Node 4 - Giordana) at 2 mins 14 secs
29, Simon Yates (Great Britain 3 mins 37 secs
30, Ben Grenda (Rapha Condor)
31, Richard Lang (Rapha Condor)
32, Ian Bibby (Endura Racing)
33, Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
34, Chris Opie (UK Youth Cycling)
35, Tom Moses (Great Britain)
36, Alistair Slater (Great Britain)
37, Wouter Sybrandy (IG - Sigma Sport)
38, Richard Handley (Rapha Condor)
39, Jacek Morajko (Vacansoleil - DCM)
40, David McGowan (UK Youth Cycling)
41, Jan Barta (Team NetApp)
42, Jonathan McEvoy (Endura Racing)
43, Christofer Stevenson (UK Youth Cycling)
44, Mark McNally (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
45, Paolo Longo Borghini (Liquigas - Cannondale)
46, Michael Northey (Node 4 - Giordana)
47, Jérémie Galland (Saur - Sojasun)
48, Marcin Bialoblocki (Node 4 - Giordana)
49, Yannick Talabardon (Saur - Sojasun)
50, Adrian Saez de Arregui (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
51, Kai Reus (UnitedHealthcare)
52, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
53, Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare)
54, Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare)
55, Daniel Lloyd (IG - Sigma Sport)
56, Peter Hawkins (IG - Sigma Sport)
57, Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare)
58, Paul Voss (Endura Racing)
59, Ricardo Garcia (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
60, Leopold Koenig (Team NetApp)
61, Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
62, Josh Edmondson (Great Britain)
63, Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp)
64, Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
65, Barry Markus (Vacansoleil - DCM)
66, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM)
67, Matthias Krizek (Liquigas - Cannondale)
68, Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor)
69, Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh - GAC)
70, Liam Holohan (Raleigh - GAC)
71, Niels Wytinck (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
72, Simon Richardson (IG - Sigma Sport)
73, Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas - Cannondale)
74, Russell Hampton (Raleigh - GAC)
75, Jacob Rathe (Garmin - Sharp)
76, Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
77, Jerome Coppel (Saur - Sojasun)
78, Evan Oliphant (Raleigh - GAC) at 5 mins 39 secs
79, George Atkins (Great Britain)
80, Owain Doull (Great Britain)
81, Ivan Basso (Liquigas - Cannondale)
82, Tom Last (IG - Sigma Sport)
83, Marco Benffato (Liquigas - Cannondale)
84, Christopher Jennings (Rapha Condor)
85, Graham Briggs (Raleigh - GAC)
86, Aidis Kruopis (Orica - GreenEdge)
87, Lachlan Morton (Garmin - Sharp)
88, Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
89, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) at 7 mins 7 secs
90, Kristian House (Rapha Condor)
91, Michael Hepburn (Orica - GreenEdge) at 7 mins 53 secs
92, Jack Bobridge (Orica - GreenEdge)
93, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur - Sojasun)
94, Rico Rogers (Node 4 - Giordana) at 13 mins 12 secs
Intermediate sprints:
Shap (km 43)
1, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 5 pts
2, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 3
3, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 2
4, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 1
Kendal (km 66.7)
1, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 5 pts
2, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 3
3, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 2
4, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 1
Caton (km 106.4)
1, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 5 pts
2, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 3
3, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 2
4, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 1
Climbs:
Category 2 at Shap Fell (km 51.8)
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) 6 pts
2, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 5
3, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 4
4, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 3
5, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 2
6, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 1
Category 2 at Old Hutton (km 79.9)
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) 6 pts
2, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 5
3, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 4
4, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 3
5, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 2
6, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 1
Category 3 at Quernmore (km 114)
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) 4 pts
2, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 3
3, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 2
4, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 1
Rouleur Combativity Award: Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
Teams:
1, Garmin – Sharp, 11 hours 34 mins 39 secs
2, Sky Procycling
3, Endura Racing, at 9 secs
4, Node 4 - Giordana, at 2 mins 57 secs
5, UK Youth Cycling, at 3 mins 37 secs
6, Team NetApp
7, UnitedHealthcare
8, Saur Sojasun, at 3 mins 46 secs
9, Orica - GreenEDGE, at 5 mins 39 secs
10, Liquigas - Cannondale, at 7 mins 14 secs
11, IG - Sigma Sport, at 7 mins 25 secs
12, An Post Sean Kelly, at 7 mins 53 secs
13, Rapha Condor, at 10 mins 51 secs
14, Great Britain
15, Euskaltel Euskadi
16, Vacansoleil - DCM
17, Raleigh - GAC
General classification:
1, Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) 17 hours 7 mins 51 secs
2, Leigh Howard (Orica - GreenEdge) at 6 secs
3, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) at 14 secs
4, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling)
5, Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun) at 20 secs
6, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin - Sharp)
7, Russell Downing (Endura Racing) at 22 secs
8, Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin - Sharp) at 26 secs
9, Nathan Haas (Garmin - Sharp)
10, Yanto Barker (UK Youth Cycling) at 27 secs
11, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling)
12, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing)
13, Christopher Jones (UnitedHealthcare)
14, Damiano Caruso (Liquigas - Cannondale)
15, Brett Lancaster (Orica - GreenEdge)
16, Zak Dempster (Endura Racing) at 36 secs
17, Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling)
18, Magnus Backstedt (UK Youth Cycling) at 43 secs
19, Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp) at 1 min 0 secs
20, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) at 2 mins 5 secs
21, Bartosz Huzarski (Team NetApp) at 2 mins 10 secs
22, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) at 2 mins 28 secs
23, Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) at 2 mins 56 secs
24, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 3 mins 41 secs
25, Chris Opie (UK Youth Cycling) at 4 mins 4 secs
26, Ben Grenda (Rapha Condor)
27, Richard Lang (Rapha Condor)
28, Paolo Longo Borghini (Liquigas - Cannondale)
29, Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
30, Jérémie Galland (Saur - Sojasun)
31, Daniel Lloyd (IG - Sigma Sport)
32, Paul Voss (Endura Racing)
33, Jerome Coppel (Saur - Sojasun)
34, Gediminas Bagdonas (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 4 mins 20 secs
35, David Clarke (Node 4 - Giordana) at 4 mins 25 secs
36, Peter Hawkins (IG - Sigma Sport) at 4 mins 38 secs
37, Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas - Cannondale) at 4 mins 45 secs
38, Barry Markus (Vacansoleil - DCM) at 5 mins 1 secs
39, Leopold Koenig (Team NetApp) at 5 mins 33 secs
40, Robert Förster (UnitedHealthcare)
41, Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh - GAC) at 5 mins 35 secs
42, Jan Barta (Team NetApp) at 5 mins 36 secs
43, Jacek Morajko (Vacansoleil - DCM)
44, Wouter Sybrandy (IG - Sigma Sport) at 5 mins 38 secs
45, Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
46, Yannick Talabardon (Saur - Sojasun)
47, Simon Yates (Great Britain 5 mins 40 secs
48, Cesare Benedetti (Team NetApp)
49, Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
50, Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor)
51, Matthias Krizek (Liquigas - Cannondale) at 5 mins 52 secs
52, Adrian Saez de Arregui (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 5 mins 54 secs
53, Marcin Bialoblocki (Node 4 - Giordana) at 5 mins 56 secs
54, Kai Reus (UnitedHealthcare) at 6 mins 16 secs
55, Josh Edmondson (Great Britain 6 mins 19 secs
56, Christofer Stevenson (UK Youth Cycling) at 6 mins 33 secs
57, Richard Handley (Rapha Condor) at 6 mins 42 secs
58, Ivan Basso (Liquigas - Cannondale) at 6 mins 44 secs
59, Marco Benffato (Liquigas - Cannondale) at 6 mins 50 secs
60, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) at 7 mins 29 secs
61, Graham Briggs (Raleigh - GAC) at 7 mins 38 secs
62, Evan Oliphant (Raleigh - GAC) at 7 mins 40 secs
63, Simon Richardson (IG - Sigma Sport) at 8 mins 1 secs
64, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) at 8 mins 24 secs
65, Jonathan McEvoy (Endura Racing) at 8 mins 25 secs
66, Peter Williams (Node 4 - Giordana) at 9 mins 19 secs
67, Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) at 9 mins 23 secs
68, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur - Sojasun) at 10 mins 49 secs
69, David McGowan (UK Youth Cycling) at 11 mins 26 secs
70, Michael Northey (Node 4 - Giordana)
71, Mark McNally (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
72, Liam Holohan (Raleigh - GAC)
73, Tom Moses (Great Britain 11 mins 42 secs
74, Alistair Slater (Great Britain)
75, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM) at 12 mins 10 secs
76, Ian Bibby (Endura Racing) at 12 mins 12 secs
77, Jacob Rathe (Garmin - Sharp) at 12 mins 21 secs
78, Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) at 12 mins 48 secs
79, Ricardo Garcia (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 12 mins 49 secs
80, Niels Wytinck (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) at 13 mins 21 secs
81, Owain Doull (Great Britain 13 mins 28 secs
82, Christopher Jennings (Rapha Condor) at 13 mins 44 secs
83, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) at 13 mins 50 secs
84, Tom Last (IG - Sigma Sport) at 13 mins 58 secs
85, Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel - Euskadi) at 14 mins 9 secs
86, Aidis Kruopis (Orica - GreenEdge) at 14 mins 55 secs
87, Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly)
88, George Atkins (Great Britain 15 mins 6 secs
89, Lachlan Morton (Garmin - Sharp) at 15 mins 12 secs
90, Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) at 16 mins 31 secs
91, Russell Hampton (Raleigh - GAC) at 16 mins 37 secs
92, Michael Hepburn (Orica - GreenEdge) at 18 mins 26 secs
93, Jack Bobridge (Orica - GreenEdge) at 19 mins 5 secs
94, Rico Rogers (Node 4 - Giordana) at 21 mins 1 secs
Points classification:
1, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) 48 pts
2, Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) 44
3, Russell Downing (Endura Racing) 44
4, Leigh Howard (Orica - GreenEdge) 42
5, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling) 39
6, Steele Von Hoff (Garmin - Sharp) 26
7, Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun) 23
8, Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin - Sharp) 18
9, Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp) 18
10, Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 18
11, Nathan Haas (Garmin - Sharp) 16
12, Barry Markus (Vacansoleil - DCM) 16
13, Peter Hawkins (IG - Sigma Sport) 13
14, Aidis Kruopis (Orica - GreenEdge) 13
15, Jérémie Galland (Saur - Sojasun) 12
16, Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura Racing) 9
17, Magnus Backstedt (UK Youth Cycling) 9
18, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM) 9
19, Paolo Longo Borghini (Liquigas - Cannondale) 8
20, Jonathan McEvoy (Endura Racing) 8
21, Yanto Barker (UK Youth Cycling) 7
22, Chris Opie (UK Youth Cycling) 7
23, Ben Grenda (Rapha Condor) 6
24, Christian Knees (Sky Procycling) 5
25, Graham Briggs (Raleigh - GAC) 5
26, Peter Williams (Node 4 - Giordana) 5
27, Damiano Caruso (Liquigas - Cannondale) 4
28, Jerome Coppel (Saur - Sojasun) 2
29, Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh - GAC) 2
30, Marco Benffato (Liquigas - Cannondale) 2
31, Richard Lang (Rapha Condor) 1
32, Daniel Lloyd (IG - Sigma Sport) 1
Mountains classification:
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) 62 pts
2, Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 41
3, Richard Handley (Rapha Condor) 32
4, Peter Williams (Node 4 - Giordana) 32
5, Russell Hampton (Raleigh - GAC) 28
6, Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh - GAC) 25
7, Niels Wytinck (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 23
8, Jack Bobridge (Orica - GreenEdge) 21
9, Peter Hawkins (IG - Sigma Sport) 19
10, Matthias Krizek (Liquigas - Cannondale) 18
11, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 16
12, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM) 15
13, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 10
14, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 7
15, Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun) 4
16, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 4
17, Adrian Saez de Arregui (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 4
18, Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) 4
19, Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) 3
20, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 3
21, Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 2
22, Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor) 1
23, Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) 1
24, Ian Bibby (Endura Racing) 1
25, Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare) 1
26, Lachlan Morton (Garmin - Sharp) 1
Sprint classification:
1, Peter Williams (Node 4 - Giordana) 27 pts
2, Mathew Cronshaw (Node 4 - Giordana) 13
3, Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun) 12
4, Kristian House (Rapha Condor) 10
5, Niklas Gustavsson (UK Youth Cycling) 8
6, Jonny Clarke (UnitedHealthcare) 7
7, Matthias Krizek (Liquigas - Cannondale) 7
8, Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 7
9, Peter Hawkins (IG - Sigma Sport) 6
10, Luke Rowe (Sky Procycling) 5
11, Niels Wytinck (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) 5
12, Jack Bobridge (Orica - GreenEdge) 5
13, Richard Handley (Rapha Condor) 4
14, Boy Van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) 3
15, David Le Lay (Saur - Sojasun) 3
16, Bernard Sulzberger (Raleigh - GAC) 3
17, Wesley Kreder (Vacansoleil - DCM) 2
18, Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel - Euskadi) 2
19, Dan Craven (IG - Sigma Sport) 2
20, Chris Opie (UK Youth Cycling) 1
Teams classification:
1, Garmin - Sharp
2, Sky Procycling, at 2 secs
3, Endura Racing, at 11 secs
4, UK Youth Cycling, at 3 mins 40 secs
5, Saur Sojasun, at 3 mins 49 secs
6, UnitedHealthcare, at 5 mins 8 secs
7, Team NetApp, at 5 mins 9 secs
8, Liquigas - Cannondale, at 7 mins 17 secs
9, IG - Sigma Sport, at 9 mins 2 secs
10, An Post Sean Kelly, at 9 mins 25 secs
11, Rapha Condor, at 12 mins 26 secs
12, Node 4 - Giordana, at 13 mins 28 secs
13, Orica - GreenEDGE, at 14 mins 34 secs
14, Raleigh - GAC, at 15 mins 32 secs
15, Euskaltel Euskadi, at 15 mins 38 secs
16, Vacansoleil - DCM
17, Great Britain, both same