British Cycling - Road Tour of Britain

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage 8 – London

Edvald Boasson Hagen clinches second Aviva Tour of Britain Title

 

Author: Chris Maher/ Press Release, Pictures courtesy of: Chris Maher | Photography

 

September 06th-13th 2015

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage 8 - London presented by TFL

 

ToB_Stage_Maps_2015_Stage_8_AW(1)-1

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Stage 8 London presented by TfL, Time for celebrations... Congratulations Edvald Boasson Hagen
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Stage 8 London presented by TfL, Time for celebrations… Congratulations Edvald Boasson Hagen

 

Edvald Boasson Hagen of MTN Qhubeka became the first rider to win the modern Aviva Tour of Britain twice when he successfully defended his 13 second lead on the final stage, an 86.8km circuit race around some of central London’s iconic landmarks.

 

The Norwegian sprinted to fifth on the stage, which was upgraded to fourth when Andre Greipel was relegated for impeding Elia Viviani in the final sprint up Regent Street, St James, handing the Italian his third stage win of the week.

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London Greipel crosses the line first, but relegated!
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London Greipel crosses the line first, but relegated!

 

Viviani’s victories in Wrexham, Floors Castle and now London also mean he is only the fifth rider to win three stages in one edition of the race, and joins Mark Cavendish as one of only two riders to win Tour of Britain stages in England, Scotland and Wales.

 

Speaking afterwards he told TeamSky.com “After yesterday I saw I had good speed in the legs after a really hard week, so we thought we could win today.

 

“(Ben) Swifty and Andy (Fenn) put me in a perfect position for the last corner. We saw the road go up and I knew we couldn’t start the sprint too early. When I saw Greipel go I went directly on his left-hand side. He came across a little bit, a little bit more and that edged me towards the barriers. I’m disappointed because it is better to win without this. He is a big champion and I’ve never seen him do this before. But we won in London and that is the main thing.”

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Elia Viviani
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Elia Viviani

 

“This week has been really good with lots of stages over 200 kilometres,” he added. “It has given me a very good base for the worlds and I am really confident. I think the Tour of Britain is the perfect roads for the worlds this year.”

 

After the stage Greipel insisted the incident was accidental: “I didn’t see Viviani coming. I was just concentrating on my sprint and suddenly he was next to me. The final straight wasn’t that wide, I had to look for space to overtake. Everybody was on the limit on the final corner. I didn’t do anything for purpose that’s for sure. That’s sprinting.”

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - MTN Qhubeka Control...
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – MTN Qhubeka Control…

 

Boasson Hagen’s fourth place on the day was more than enough to see him win the Aviva Yellow Jersey outright thirteen seconds ahead of Team Sky’s Wout Poels with young British rider Owain Doull capping an outstanding week’s work by moving up to third place overall thanks to a time bonus, the best result of his road career to date.

 

Doull also claimed the Chain Reaction Cycles Points jersey, having finished in the top ten on all but one stage (the finish at Hartside where he came 11th) and the Premier Inn Best British Rider award.

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Ian Stannard
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Ian Stannard

 

Boasson Hagen, who won three stages in 2008 and four in 2009, didn’t take a stage victory in 2015, but arguably his overall victory was all the more impressive, having to fight off a determined effort from Team Sky, working for the in-form Poels.

 

“I am very happy with that win,” said Boasson Hagen who joined MTN Qhubeka at the start of this season from Team Sky. “The object today was simply to defend the jersey and my team did a great job all day. Team WIGGINS took it out very fast at the start looking for the intermediate Sprint and seconds for their rider and it was very hard but then the race settled down a little. I always like to race to win. I had my chances with Sky but perhaps I get more chances with MTN Qhubeka. I think perhaps this year it was harder to win the GC than back in 2009, the course was tougher and Sky were very strong.”

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Final GC, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Wouter Poels, Owain Doull
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Final GC, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Wouter Poels, Owain Doull

 

Boasson Hagen now goes onto the World Championships in Richmond Virginia where he will be riding primarily for Alexander Kristoff although on this form he clearly represents a viable Plan B. Both Greipel and Viviani have also expressed their hopes of taking the title and it could yet be that the Aviva Tour of Britain again acts as ideal build up for the eventual champion, as it did last year with Michel Kwiatkowski.

 

With a new look circuit hosting 14-laps of racing, the early interest in the final stage centred mainly on Team WIGGINS trying to secure two vital seconds for Doull to move him from fourth place onto the podium in third ahead of Rasmus Guldhammer of Cult Energy Pro Cycling.

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Danilo Wyss
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Danilo Wyss

 

For a team consisting of Great Britain’s best team pursuiters, that was a pleasing scenario and provided a fine spectacle for a large crowd as Team WIGGINS went to the front half way around the first lap, and bossed the race for the first three laps right up to the first intermediate YodelDirect Sprint.

 

A huge turn on lap three from Sir Bradley Wiggins set Doull up nicely although Russ Downing, riding for Cult Energy did manage to infiltrate the Team WIGGINS train and take the line honours to deny Doull the full three seconds. Doull, however, comfortably collected two seconds for second place to move into third on the road, a position he was able to defend.

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Tyler Farrah
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Tyler Farrah

 

After the first sprint an eight man break went up the road which meant Cult had to chase in an attempt to get Guldhammer into the second YodelDirect Sprint. Ultimately it was in vain with the peloton unable to get on terms in time, last year’s overall winner Dylan van Baarle taking both the second and third YodelDirect Sprints, on his way to finishing eighth overall.

 

Elsewhere Peter Williams of ONE Pro Cycling completed an excellent week’s riding – both individually and in the team context – by taking both the SKODA King of the Mountains title and YodelDirect Sprints jersey, only the third time that feat has ever been achieved in Aviva Tour of Britain history

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL, Pete Williams
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL, Pete Williams

 

Williams, from Southport, had cinched the Skoda King of the Mountains title on Saturday when he took maximum points on the final climb of the day up Brantham Hill in Suffolk, and started today’s stage seven points up from Conor Dunne in the YodelDirect Sprints classification. With neither rider contesting the first sprint of the day Williams’ lead became unassailable and the celebrations could start.

 

“It’s a massive achievement for ONE Pro Cycling. This time last year it was just a few conversations and the ball had just started to role so it was a really new team. To come away with two leaders’ jerseys on our Tour debut is a brilliant achievement.

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL, Pete Williams
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL, Pete Williams

 

“I feel like I’ve been in good form all year, the setup is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and it helps get the best out of all the riders. It’s a really good environment. Coming into the Tour of Britain we had prepared well and felt ready to come here and do something.”

Stage 8 | London Presented by TfL

 

1          26        VIVIANI Elia                                                SKY    ITA     B:10″ 00″

2          104      LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose       MOV   ESP     B:06″ ‘ ‘

3          15        TRENTIN Matteo                                    EQS    ITA     B:04″ ‘ ‘

4          81        BOASSON HAGEN Edvald                      MTN   NOR   ‘ ‘

5          73        DEBUSSCHERE Jens                       LTS     BEL    ‘ ‘

6          33        ENGER Sondre Holst                        IAM    NOR   ‘ ‘

7          13        RENSHAW Mark                              EQS    AUS    ‘ ‘

8          122      BRIGGS Graham                               JLT      GBR    ‘ ‘

9          6          ZEPUNTKE Ruben                            TCG    GER    ‘ ‘

10        194      DOULL Owain                                  WGN GBR    B:02″ ‘ ‘

11        36        VANGENECHTEN Jonas                 IAM    BEL    ‘ ‘

12        14        STYBAR Zdenek                               EQS    CZE    ‘ ‘

13        51        DOWNING Russell                           CLT     GBR    B:03″ ‘ ‘

14        145      TRUSOV Nikolay                              TCS     RUS    ‘ ‘

15        2          BETTIOL Alberto                              TCG    ITA     ‘ ‘

16        53        GULDHAMMER Rasmus                 CLT     DEN    ‘ ‘

17        165      MCEVOY Jonathan                           NPC    GBR    ‘ ‘

18        133      KRUIJSWIJK Steven                                    TLJ      NED    ‘ ‘

19        144      SÖRENSEN Chris Anker                  TCS     DEN    ‘ ‘

20        135      TANKINK Bram                                TLJ      NED    ‘ ‘

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Ian Stannard
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Ian Stannard

 

General Classification Aviva Yellow Jersey

 

Aviva_YellowJersey-Blog

 

1          81        BOASSON HAGEN Edvald             MTN   NOR   34h52’52”        00″

2          25        POELS Wouter                       SKY    NED    34h53’05”        13″

3          194      DOULL Owain                      WGN GBR    34h53’34”        42″

4          53        GULDHAMMER Rasmus     CLT     DEN    34h53’35”        43″

5          14        STYBAR Zdenek                   EQS    CZE    34h53’43”        51″

6          102      FERNANDEZ Ruben            MOV   ESP     ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

7          133      KRUIJSWIJK Steven                TLJ      NED    ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

8          1          VAN BAARLE Dylan           TCG    NED    34h53’45”        53″

9          144      SÖRENSEN Chris Anker      TCS     DEN    34h53’51”        59″

10        65        MEURISSE Xandro               SKT     BEL    34h53’54”        01’02”

11        141      KISERLOVSKI Robert         TCS     CRO    34h54’06”        01’14”

12        155      PETERS Alex                         GBR    GBR    34h54’11”        01’19”

13        73        DEBUSSCHERE Jens           LTS     BEL    34h54’25”        01’33”

14        52        QUAADE Rasmus Christian CLT     DEN    34h54’26”        01’34”

15        135      TANKINK Bram                    TLJ      NED    34h54’52”        02’00”

16        2          BETTIOL Alberto                  TCG    ITA     34h54’59”        02’07”

17        3          LANGEVELD Sebastian       TCG    NED    34h55’20”        02’28”

18        23        KENNAUGH Peter               SKY    GBR    34h55’43”        02’51”

19        32        DENIFL Stefan                      IAM    AUT    34h56’24”        03’32”

20        31        CLEMENT Stef                     IAM    NED    34h57’49”        04’57”

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Stage Eight Race Start...
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 Stage Eight Race Start…

 

Skoda King of the Mountains Jersey

 

SKODA_KoMJersey-Blog

1          176      WILLIAMS Peter                              GBR    ONE    36

2          96        STEWART Thomas                            GBR    MGT   34

3          91        MCNALLY Mark                              GBR    MGT   29

4          163      BIBBY Ian                                         GBR    NPC    28

5          62        DUNNE Conor                                   IRL     SKT     26

6          25        POELS Wouter                                   NED    SKY    21

7          121      HOUSE Kristian                                 GBR    JLT      20

8          83        FARRAR Tyler                                  USA    MTN   18

9          45        WYSS Danilo                                     SUI     BMC   15

10        133      KRUIJSWIJK Steven                          NED    TLJ      14

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL

 

YodelDirect Sprints Jersey

 

YodelDirect_PointsJersey-Blog

1          176      WILLIAMS Peter                              GBR    ONE    18

2          62        DUNNE Conor                                   IRL     SKT     11

3          45        WYSS Danilo                                     SUI     BMC   10

4          74        LIGTHART Pim                                 NED    LTS     8

5          101      DOWSETT Alex                                GBR    MOV   8

6          1          VAN BAARLE Dylan                       NED    TCG    7

7          122      BRIGGS Graham                               GBR    JLT      7

8          15        TRENTIN Matteo                              ITA     EQS    6

9          51        DOWNING Russell                           GBR    CLT     6

10        172      BIALOBLOCKI Marcin                    POL    ONE    4

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 London... Edvald on Trafalgar Square!
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 London… Edvald on Trafalgar Square!

 

Chain Reaction Cycles Points Jersey

ChainReactionCycles_PointsJersey-Blog

1          194      DOULL Owain                                    GBR    WGN 78

2          81        BOASSON HAGEN Edvald                NOR   MTN   77

3          73        DEBUSSCHERE Jens                       BEL    LTS     59

4          26        VIVIANI Elia                                      ITA     SKY    53

5          15        TRENTIN Matteo                              ITA     EQS    52

6          104      LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose    ESP     MOV   43

7          53        GULDHAMMER Rasmus                 DEN    CLT     40

8          14        STYBAR Zdenek                               CZE    EQS    32

9          25        POELS Wouter                                   NED    SKY    31

10        2          BETTIOL Alberto                              ITA     TCG    31

 

Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL, Owain Doull
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL, Owain Doull

 

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Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Team, Cannondale - Garmin
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Team, Cannondale – Garmin

 

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Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Owain Doull
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Owain Doull

 

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Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight - London presented by TfL - Danilo Wyss
Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 | Stage Eight – London presented by TfL – Danilo Wyss

 

 

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