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United States | Midwest | Ohio >> Tour of Britain Stage 3: Ian Stannard wins stage as Julien Vermote retains lead

Tour of Britain Stage 3: Ian Stannard wins stage as Julien Vermote retains lead

Stannard of Team Sky, Kristian House of One Pro team, Steve Cronshaw of Madison-Genesis and the Graham Briggs of JLT-Condor hit the lengthy drag of the Cat and Fiddle with 30 miles to the finish their advantage was around six minutes, in spite of some concerted chasing from the Etixx – Quick-Step team of the race leader, Julien Vermote.

Cronshaw was unable to hold the other three and just after the top of the seven-mile climb, Stannard made his move, with Briggs initially taking up the chase but with little hope of pulling the Team Sky rider back once the gap had been opened. “I was surprised he hit it so early,” the Yorkshireman said. “Kristian was swinging a bit, I’d just done a turn and I left it a second too late to react. Once he’d gone that was that.”

Stannard has ridden these Peak District roads since he was 18 years old, riding for the Great Britain academy, and he is currently based in Wilmslow, so these are still his training hills and he timed his effort perfectly on a drag after the Cat and Fiddle summit, which was followed immediately by a steep descent. “Knowing the roads helps, you know just how fast you can take the blind corners and how to judge your effort on the climbs. I thought I’d go for it early, then I could hit them again if it didn’t work.”

By the time he reached the park here he was almost 2min clear, ample time to watch Briggs outsprint House for second.

In terms of the overall standings, there was stalemate with Vermote and Cummings marking each other and their respective teams sharing the pacemaking.

On Wednesday the action shifts west, with a stage running from north to south Wales, on roads that look similar to the ones in the Lakes where the race was ripped to shreds on Monday, before a finish on the Royal Welsh Showgrounds in Builth Wells. This is also the longest day of the race, totalling some 226km and offers a wealth of attacking opportunities to those willing to roll the dice as Stannard did here.

Tour of Britain stage three, Top 10

1. Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky, 4-14-12
2. Graham Briggs (GBr) JLT Condor, at 1-46
3. Kristian House (GBr) One Pro Cycling, st
4. Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani CSF, at 5-43
5. Danny van Poppel (Ned) Team Sky
6. Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Giant-Alpecin
7. Chris Latham (GBr) Team Wiggins
8. Rick Zabel (Ger) BMC
9. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
10. Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-BikeExchange

Tour of Britain Overall standings after stage three 

1. Julien Vermote (Bel) Etixx-QuickStep in 13-53-15
2. Stephen Cummings (GBr) Dimension Data at 6 secs
3. Daniel Martin (Irl) Etixx-QuickStep at 1-04
4. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Sky at 1-08
5. Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert at 1-08
6. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto-Soudal at 1-08
7. Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac at 1-12
8. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe Gobert at 1-12
9. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin at 1-12
10. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky at 1-16

VIDEO: Tour of Britains Stage 3 Final Kilometres

Tour of Britain Stage 3: Ian Stannard wins stage as Julien Vermote retains lead