Paul Magnier once again proved a class above the rest as he cruised to a third stage win at the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men after a 149.6km stage around West Northamptonshire.
The young French talent Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) took victory ahead of Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility) and Ethan Vernon (Israel - Premier Tech) in a stage that both started and finished in Northampton.
As the flag dropped on the University of Northampton’s Waterside Campus, a batch of riders accelerated with TRINITY Racing leading the charge, before Connor Swift (INEOS Grenadiers) went solo. Danish champion Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility) and Matt Holmes (Great Britain Cycling Team) bridged over with the trio racking up a 30 second lead.
Race leader Stevie Williams (Israel - Premier Tech), along with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) attempted to make a move of their own as the race neared the first categorised climb of the day at Newnham Hill, but they were quickly reeled in before Alaphilippe launched another attack in an attempt to chase down the leading trio.
Holmes was the first to reach the crest of Newnham Hill, followed by Swift in second, Pedersen in third and Paul Wright (REMBE Pro Cycling Team Sauerland) taking the final available point. The breakaway trio maintained the same order over the second and final categorised climb of the day, and the 2024 race, at Bullshill, with Alaphilippe taking fourth place on this occasion before he was again caught by the peloton.
Josh Golliker (Groupama-FDJ Continental) saw an opportunity to try and join the breakaway and struck out alone, but found himself in no man’s land as he gained a minute on the peloton. With 105km to go, Golliker sat up as the lead trio saw their advantage stretch to 2:40 over the main group, with Soudal Quick-Step and Israel - Premier Tech controlling the chase.
With the gap hovering around the two minute mark, the breakaway reached the intermediate sprint at Holcot, with Holmes first across the line ahead of Swift and Pedersen.
With just under 15km to go, panic began to set in amongst the peloton as the breakaway remained a minute up the road, working well together to try and keep their hopes of victory alive. Soudal Quick-Step began to pull out all the stops, sending double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel to the front, who cut the deficit to just under 30 seconds with seven kilometres remaining.
Hopes for a breakaway victor were in the balance with three kilometres to go as the gap began to close rapidly, with just 18 seconds separating the groups. Bahrain-Victorious and Uno-X Mobility also began to help the peloton, closing the gap to eight seconds with two kilometres to go.
A crash saw most of the Soudal Quick-Step riders caught out, but Alaphilippe was still able to guide Magnier towards the front of the race, with the breakaway’s brave effort finally caught at the flamme rouge entering the final kilometre.
Jake Stewart (Israel - Premier Tech) began the lead out on the gently rising Derngate in Northampton town centre to launch teammate Vernon, but Magnier looked unbeatable as he powered to the front, gaining two bike lengths over his rivals to secure the victory, celebrating his second consecutive victory and third stage win of the 2024 race.
Behind Blikra went one better than his third in Newark-on-Trent, while Vernon’s third is his seventh top three placing in his home tour from the past 11 stages, though the 24-year-old from Bedford is yet to crack the top spot.
The general classification podium places remain unchanged, Stevie Williams (Israel - Premier Tech) retains his 16 second advantage over best young rider leader Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) going into the final stage.
Magnier strengthened his hold on the red points classification jersey with victory today, while Callum Thornley (TRINITY Racing) kept hold of his blue king of the mountains classification jersey once more, now with every categorised climb completed. Connor Swift earned the day’s combativity award for his efforts in the breakaway.
After the win, Magnier said: “I enjoyed it a lot, especially with a really big team performance again. It was really hard to catch the break in the final. Remco [Evenepoel] did everything, he did his best. He is a super fast rider and he brought back the really strong breakaway, and then Julian [Alaphilippe] brought me to the front and I saved a lot of energy there. I did my best sprint and the victory was super nice. Tomorrow we’ll try again to get the victory.”
Should Magnier take victory tomorrow he will equal the record for stage wins in a single edition of the modern Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, held jointly by Olav Kooij (2023) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (2009), though both of those riders took theirs in successive stages.
East Suffolk hosts the final stage of the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men on Sunday 8 September with a 158.4-kilometre stage from Lowestoft to Felixstowe. The start begins from Marine Parade in Lowestoft at 11am, finishing on Sea Road in Felixstowe. Live coverage on ITV4 begins at 10.45am.
