Tour of Britain

Tiernan-Locke takes the overall win in the Tour of Britain

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke has won this year’s Tour of Britain making him the first Briton to win since South London's Chris Lillywhite won the Milk Race back in 1993.

Jonathan Tiernan-Locke added another chapter to a remarkable summer of success by British cyclists by winnin the 2012 edition of the Tour of Britian.

The Endura rider, who grabbed the lead with some impressive climbing on stage five, in Wales, led by 18 seconds going into Sunday's final stage. With the support of his well-drilled team, he crossed the line near the front of the main bunch to secure the overall victory.

Speaking to BBC Sport shortly after the race the 27 year old commented:

"It's fantastic, It has not really sunk in yet. It was a tough day, a lot tougher than we thought. So I feel relief more than anything."

Great Britain Podium athlete and current road world champion Mark Cavendish took the stage victory, his third stage win of the race. The team Sky athlete took it to a sprint finish across the cobbled streets of Guildford in Surrey.

The Manxman was led out perfectly once again by his Team Sky team-mates, with Berhnard Eisel, Christian Knees and Jeremy Hunt all taking huge turns on the front before Luke Rowe kicked on in the final kilometre.

When the Welshman pulled over on the cobbled drag to the finish line, Cavendish dug deep and celebrated Team Sky’s fourth victory in eight stages ahead of Boy van Poppel (UnitedHealthcare) and Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas).

Rider Reaction - Stage 8 winner Mark Cavendish

Immediately after the stage, Cavendish told ITV4: "The victory feels very nice and the fans have been incredible. The amount of people on the road today was like the Olympic Games. That's been the same all week, come rain or shine.

"I thought people had forgotten about me a little bit - it's been all about sideburns this week (laughs) - but seeing the amount of people in Guildford, I just wanted to win.

"It was my last day in the rainbow jersey and I wanted to finish it off in style. The team rode really hard all day. Breaks were going left, right and centre, but they stayed with me and led me to the line. I'm really happy."

British riders Peter Williams and Kristian House won the sprint and king of the mountains jerseys respectively. Williams, who was part of a four-man break, won the stage's three intermediate sprints to pick up nine points and finish on a total of 45, almost double the amount scored by the second-placed rider, his Node 4 Giordana team-mate Marcin Bialoblocki.

Misschien ook interessant: