Tour of Britain: History made with Stevie Williams

09/09/2024 04:22 AM

Stevie Williams made history as he became the first Welshman to win the modern Lloyds Bank Men’s Tour of Britain and the first Brit to win the national tour since 2016.

Tour of Britain: History made with Stevie Williams

Stevie Williams made history as he became the first Welshman to win the modern Lloyds Bank Men’s Tour of Britain and the first Brit to win the national tour since 2016.

Williams (Israel – Premier Tech) completed a clean sweep of winning British riders on the podium along with Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) in second by 16 seconds, with Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team), a further 36 seconds in arrears.

Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) won the final 158.4km stage through East Suffolk, as the sixth stage ended in a bunch sprint on Sea Road in Felixstowe.

An early breakaway group of four featuring Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Cole Kessler (Lidl – Trek Future Racing), Mathias Bregnhøj (Sabgal/Anicolor) and Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) gained 30 seconds over the peloton. Samuel Leroux (Van Rysel – Roubaix) and Antoine L’Hote (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) managed to bridge across and extend the gap to 34 seconds, with Abrahamsen securing the first intermediate sprint win of the day in Beccles, before they were caught with 129km to go.

The race leaces Lowestoft at 11 in the morning in the sunshine….

After a brief moment of calm, Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked hard to make a front group of eight, before Jacob Scott (Rembe Pro Cycling Team Sauerland) and Mathias Bregnhoj (Sabgal/Anicolor) went clear. Pidcock attacked again, with Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) in tow as the two bridged over with 110km to go, forcing a gap of 2:10.

The peloton, led by Soudal Quick-Step and Israel – Premier Tech upped the pace in an attempt to reel them back, splintering the peloton into two, and making the catch with 88km to go.

A strong crosswind blew the peloton apart, which threatened to disrupt the standings significantly in the final stage, while a group of 25 including Callum Thornley (Trinity Racing), Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Williams and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) went off the front.

The second intermediate sprint with 68km to go saw Tom Donnenwirth (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) take the full points and bonus seconds, moving him up into third on the general classification, above Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling).

The second group took turns on the front to close the gap, before a crash saw Tom Pidcock and treble stage winner Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) abandon the race to make it all to play for coming into the final 35km. As the peloton came back together, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team hit the front coming into the final intermediate sprint in Grundisburgh, with Jelte Krijnsen taking the points ahead of Donnenwirth.

Connor Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked solo, with Evenepoel, Thornley and Abrahamsen bridging over, before it came back together and another flurry of attacks put pressure on the reduced peloton. A last gasp effort from Onley – who was 16 seconds off Williams in the general classification – saw Israel – Premier Tech chase furiously and make the catch with less than 20km to go.

Govekar sprints to the victory with British riders Ben Swift and Ethan Vernon in the mix

A frantic finish saw leadout trains all over the road as the riders entered Felixstowe, with Israel – Premier Tech heading the peloton, with the aim of setting up Ethan Vernon for the finish. But it was Govekar who timed his sprint to perfection out of the final corner on to the long seaside finish straight, to take the stage victory ahead of Rasmus Pedersen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team) in second. Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) was just behind in third, also taking the Combativity award of the day while Vernon finished in fourth to take the Points jersey and help his Israel – Premier Tech to the team classification.

Speaking after the podium, Williams said: "It’s been a good week and we managed to take everything out of a stage race – a couple of stages and the GC so I’m really happy and proud to have this race. I’m proud of how the boys rode all week, they were fantastic. It’s me standing on the podium and winning it but it was definitely a team effort.”

"After the Olympics, it was definitely a target of mine to get back into racing and I knew I was coming here in decent form. Luckily I had the legs to show it and pull it off but at the end of the day everything has to go right and everything did go right so I’m really happy."

Stage winner Govekar, who had finished in the top 10 of three stages previously, said: "It’s been a pretty aggressive week of racing. We came close in a few stages already, it’s been a super nice week of racing. I think the stage win shows the picture of a week of racing with the boys and I’m super happy with how they set up the final. I came from the back, with the tailwind I knew that I needed to start the sprint more to the front as they had already started to get into position quite early. I didn’t see how close it was but I did a strong sprint and I’m happy I managed to finish first."

Points winner Ethan Vernon is presented with his award by Mark Cavendish

Points champion, Vernon added: "It wasn’t the way I wanted to do it, obviously Magnier crashed out and the sprint didn’t go to plan at the end but I’m happy with Stevie’s result. It’s been a great week for Stevie, we got stuck in to helping him today and put everything into that and managed to bring it home. For me it’s been a week of highs and lows, I’ve got some good stuff to take away and learn from, some negatives but I set myself up for a good sprint today, I just didn’t have the legs in the end."

Thornley held onto the King of the Mountains jersey after a fantastic start to the tour that saw him take the blue jersey on day one in his native Scottish Borders. Fellow Borderer Onley's second place on the general classification saw him take the best young rider's jersey. Teammate Sean Flynn finished 10th overall to end a highly successful week for Scottish riders in the tour, with Onley and Thornley the first Scots to finish on the overall podium and win a jersey in their home tour, since Pippa York in 1990.

British Cycling President Bob Howden presents overall Combativity award to Ben Swift

Race director Rod Ellingworth and Olympic legend Ed Clancy present Mark Cavendish and son with the special framed memory of his 35 Tour de France stage wins

Stage winner Matevz Govekar

STAGE 6
1. Matevz Govekar, Bahrain Victorious 03:22:18
2. Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 00
3. Ben Swift, INEOS Grenadiers + 00
4. Ethan Vernon, Israel-Premier Tech + 00 (Points winner)
5. Erlend Blikra, Uno-X Mobility + 00
6. Rory Townsend, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 00
7. Noah Hobbs, Groupama-FDJ Conti + 00
8. Robert Donaldson, Trinity Racing + 00
9. Jonas Abrahamsen, Uno-X Mobility + 00
10. Sean Flynn, Team dsm-firmenich Po

17. Ben Askey
20. Jake Stewart
22. Joe Pidcock
23. Connor Swift
25. Mark Donovan
27. Ollie Rees
28. Joe Blackmore
30. Stevie Williams (GC winner)
32. Max Greensill
36. Oscar Onley (Best young rider, GC)
37. Jacob Scott
46. Bjoern Koerdt
50. Callum Thornley (KoM Winner)
54. Michael Gill
59. Joshua Golliker
61. Joshua Ludman
69. James McKay
71. Ben Wiggins
72. Matt Holmes
73. Oliver Peace
76. Oliver Wood
78. Alex Beldon
80. Dylan Westley
84. Rowan Baker
87. Bradley Symonds
91. Ethan Hayter

OVERALL
1. Stephen Williams, Israel-Premier Tech 21:25:14
2. Oscar Onley, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL + 16
3. Tom Donnenwirth, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 36
4. Mark Donovan, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 40
5. Joe Blackmore, Israel-Premier Tech + 41
6. Jelte Krijnsen, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team + 01:39
7. Edoardo Zambanini, Bahrain Victorious + 01:40
8. Mathias Bregnhøj, Sabgal – Anicolor Cycling Team + 01:58
9. Noa Isidore, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 01:58
10. Sean Flynn, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL + 02:03
11. Robert Donaldson , Trinity Racing + 02:05
12. Jonas Abrahamsen, Uno-X Mobility + 02:07
13. Jake Stewart, Israel-Premier Tech + 02:08
14. Julian Alaphilippe, Soudal Quick-Step + 02:08
15. Ben Swift, INEOS Grenadiers + 02:10
16. Antoin L’Hote,
17. Wout Poels, Bahrain Victorious + 02:22
18. Nils Aebersold, Lidl-Trek Future Racing + 02:45
19. Paul Wright, REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland + 02:55
20. Gil Gelders, Soudal Quick-Step + 02:57
21. Rémi Capron, Van Rysel-Roubaix + 03:28
22. Connor Swift, INEOS Grenadiers + 03:35
23. Rasmus Pedersen, Søjberg Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 03:42
24. Oliver Rees, Sabgal – Anicolor Cycling Team + 04:32
25. Julius Johansen Sabgal – Anicolor Cycling Team

KOM
1. Callum Thornley, Trinity Racing 50
2. Dean Harvey, Trinity Racing 24
3. Laurent Gervais, Project Echelon Racing 20

POINTS
1. Ethan Vernon, Israel-Premier Tech 56
2. Stephen Williams, Israel-Premier Tech 51
3. Matevz Govekar, Bahrain Victorious 43

YOUNG RIDER
1. Oscar Onley , Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 21:25:30
2. Joe Blackmore , Israel-Premier Tech + 21:25:39
3. Noa Isidore, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 21:26:56
4. Robert Donaldson , Trinity Racing + 21:27:03

TEAM
1. Israel-Premier Tech 64:18:52
2. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team + 01:29
3. Soudal Quick-Step + 01:53

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