Dylan van Baarle wins 2014 Tour of Britain
Dylan van Baarle finishes with the pack on stage 2 of a two-stage finale to claim the crown in the Tour of Britain
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LONDON (AFP) — Dylan van Baarle (Garmin-Sharp) won the Tour of Britain, holding firm to his overall lead during Sunday’s double-stage day in London.
Van Baarle triumphed in an overall time of 32 hours, 22 minutes and 50 seconds, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 10 seconds adrift in second place. Defending champion Bradley Wiggins (Sky) finished third, 22 seconds down.
Olympic champion Wiggins, the first British rider to win the Tour de France in 2013, won the morning’s individual time trial. But as he suspected, Wiggins left himself with too much to do in terms of defending his title.
Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) won the afternoon circuit race, taking a bunch sprint ahead of Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma).
“The leadout was great today and that made the win possible,” said Kittel. “It worked out really well for us at the end today. We waited late to move up to the front on the right as planned and then Tom [Stamsnijder] took me round the top corner before dropping me off in a perfect position. It was a hard sprint, but I had enough to come back at the end and hold on. It’s a nice way to end the week here.”
Kittel has won Giro d’Italia stages in Belfast and Dublin, Tour de France stages in Harrogate and London, and Tour of Britain stages in Liverpool and London.
But by finishing safely in the peloton van Baarle, who started the day with a 19-second lead, made sure of the overall title.