Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) made it three wins at the Tour of Britain from five stages, launching a long-range sprint on the dragging finish into Northampton on stage 5 and holding off the challenge from Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) in second.
The three-man breakaway of the stage that got away in the opening 10km of the 149.6km route made it all the way to the final kilometre until they were swallowed up at the last by the hectic peloton after the likes of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) had worked tirelessly to peg them back.
Without much of a lead-out left after the touch chase, Magnier made his move early in the sprint in the red points jersey, proving he was every bit worthy of wearing it as he powered to the line ahead of the Norwegian and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), who took yet another top three finish. This win marks Magnier’s fifth win of his neo-pro season.
Miraculously, Danish champion Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), who was in the three-man 130km move with Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Matthew Holmes (GB), managed to still sprint in the finish to fifth but it was still heartbreak for those in the break.
Stevie Williams (Israel-Premier Tech) kept his overall lead on GC after finishing safely in the front group, holding a 16-second lead over Oscar Onley (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) heading into the final stage tomorrow from Lowestoft to Felixstowe.
“I enjoy it a lot, especially again with a really big team performance today. It was really hard to catch the break in the final. Remco did everything, he did his best, he’s a super fast rider as you know to bring back the really strong breakaway,” said Magnier as he described the finish. “Julian brought me to the front, I saved a lot of energy and in the end, I did my best sprint and the victory is super nice.”
The Frenchman will have a chance to take the sixth win of his neo-pro season tomorrow on a similarly flat stage to Felixstowe, however, the win could play a part in Suffolk down by the coast. Although, it would only be a bonus for the 20-year-old after such a successful week already. “Why not [go for stage 6]? We will try for sure but it’s already super nice to take three victories here but for sure we will try to go again for victory.”
How it unfolded
As the action got going from the University of Northampton and headed west out of the county town, the two categorised climbs of the day up Newnham Hill and Bulshill provided the perfect launch pad for the break of the day to form.
Holmes, Swift, and Pedersen formed the break of the day on the flatter roads with over 140km remaining in the day, ensuring they hit the 600m climbs, which averaged 7.2% and 5.2% respectively, with a lead.
The trio were strong in their concerted effort and rode at a blistering pace to build a lead close to a minute in anticipation of the first climb, where a counter-attack was launched by Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep).
Race leader Williams was in prime position with his Israel-Premier Tech team, however, happy with the three-man group getting away and trying their best to neutralise any more moves from making it uncontrollable.
They were largely successful aside from a solo move by Josh Golliker (Groupama-FDJ), however, the young Brit couldn’t made up the difference to the three strong break riders in front and simply rode in no-man’s-land until he gave up the ghost.
It was a strong effort by Holmes, Swift and Pedersen in front as they tried their hardest to stay away from the Soudal-QuickStep-led peloton for much of the day.
A gap that was barely bigger than 2:30 at its largest on the stage had halved inside the final 50km with a sprint looking likely in Northampton. However, it almost got out of hand in the run for home with many teams not looking to help the chase knowing they would be towing Magnier to another win.
Thankfully for the Frenchman, he has the double Olympic champion Evenepoel on his side, with the gold accents showing themselves at the head of the peloton and producing a super pull inside 20km to go to ensure his sprinter had the chance to win.
Having to do his job earlier than on stage 4, Evenepoel couldn’t aid Alaphilippe fully with the final lead-out, so QuickStep left the last part of the chase up to Uno-X Mobility, who powered into the flamme rouge through Jonas Abrahamsen.
With the break’s heart broken in the final kilometre, the final sprint was beginning and there were not many lead-out riders remaining after a testing day on flat roads.
Magnier emerged from behind the faltering Uno-X train with Vernon on his wheel, however, the Frenchman had enough power to hold off both the Brit and Blikra who was sprinting for Uno-X Mobility. Another perfect day for Soudal-QuickStep wrapped up by their young French sprint star, who has been one of the most successful neo-pros of the season.
Results
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