Australian Caleb Ewan claimed his third stage victory in the 2017 Tour of Britain as Holland's Lars Boom maintained his lead in the general classification. Ewan powered to a convincing win after stage six from Newmarket to Aldeburgh came down to a sprint finish. An early seven-man breakaway opened up a gap of almost three minutes and led for nearly 170 kilometres before finally being swept up with just a few kilometres remaining. Ewan, who won two of the first three stages, was then perfectly positioned to negotiate the final tight right-hand turn before storming to the line ahead of Fernando Gaviria, with Dylan Groenewegen in third. The result means no change in the overall standings with two stages remaining, Boom [Lotto NL-Jumbo] holding a lead of eight seconds over team-mate Victor Campenaerts, with Team Sky's Vasil Kiryienka a second further back in third. The highest-placed Briton is Team Sky's Geraint Thomas, who is 19 seconds off the lead in ninth place. Saturday's stage is a 185km ride from Hemel Hempstead to Cheltenham before the race concludes on Sunday with a 180km stage that starts in Worcester and ends in Cardiff.
|