Stevie Williams made his a double when he received stage three of the Tour of Britain Males on Thursday, with an uphill dash in Barnsley.
It got here on the finish of a hilly and soggy day in Yorkshire that took the riders 166km from Sheffield to the Barnsley end.
It was a back-to-back win for Williams, who outsprinted breakaway accomplice Julian Alaphilippe in Redcar on stage two.
The Welsh rider adopted an early dash by Bahrain Victorious rider Edoardo Zambanini on the brief, winding rise to the end, dragging a strong-looking Paul Magnier (Soudal Fast-Step) with him. Williams comfortably handed Zambanini who nearly fell as he tussled with Magnier, who pipped Zambanini for second.
Williams elevated his general lead from six seconds to 16 over Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich PostNL), with Mark Donovan (Q36.5 PCT) shifting into third at 41sec – the identical time as Williams’s team-mate Joe Blackmore.
The way it occurred
The British climate got here out to play on this meandering third stage between the 2 Yorkshire cities, with climate starting from damp to outright stair rods.
The riders took it of their stride although, with loads of eager attacking from the outset. The primary profitable group to ascertain itself consisted of yesterday’s second place Alaphilippe, Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jake Stewart (Israel-Premier Tech), who have been joined shortly by Jelte Krijnsen (Q36.5 Biking Workforce) and Emils Liepinš (dsm-firmenich PostNL).
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This quintet was solely ever afforded a small hole, and have been ultimately caught 50km later
The subsequent key transfer got here with round 50km to go, instigated by Ineos Grenadiers rider Tobias Foss. He was joined by 9 others, together with younger Brit Louis Sutton of AVC Aix-en-Provence.
Once more, they have been by no means given a protracted leash, with 1:08 the largest hole they achieved. However they remained out forward, steadily shedding riders because the climate and the fixed ups and downs took their toll.
The hole solely acquired smaller with Israel-Premier Tech pulling on the entrance in help of Stevie Williams, and on the cat-two climb of Hound Hill with round 5 kilometres to go, the break caught and the denouement arrange.
Outcomes
Lloyds Financial institution Tour of Britain Males 2024, Stage 3: Sheffield > Barnsley, 166km
1. Stevie Williams (GBR) Israel-Premier Tech, in 3:50:03
2. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Fast-Step
3. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
4. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 PCT
5. Oscar Onley (GBR) dsm-firmenich PostNL
6. Tom Pidcock (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers
7. Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Uno-X Mobility
8. Mark Donovan (GBR) Q36.5 PCT
9. Joseph Blackmore (GBR) Israel-Premier Tech
10. Callum Thornley (GBR) Trinity Racing, all at identical time
Basic Classification after Stage 3
1. Stevie Williams (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech, in 11:38:53
2. Oscar Onley (Gbr) dsm-firmenich Put up NL, +16s
3. Mark Donovan (Gbr) Q36.5 Professional Biking, +41s
4. Joe Blackmore (Gbr) Israel-Premier Tech,
5. Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, each s.t.
6. Louis Sutton (Gbr) Nice Britain, +1:05
7. Paul Magnier (Fra) Soudal Fast-Step, +1:31
8. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Soudal Fast-Step, +1:33
9. Edoardo Zambanini (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +1:43
10. Jelte Krijnsen (Ned) Q36.5 PCT, +1:44
