Lars Boom won the third stage of the Tour Of Britain this afternoon.
The race after yesterday's postponement got underway at Trentham Gardens and saw Ian Bibby (MPT), Richardson (SGS), Sparling (RAL), Ghyllebert (SKT), House (RCS), Handley (RAL) & De Gendt (VCD) attack early.
That was brought back by the peloton which included Gold Jersey wearig race leader Mark Cavendish and Russell Hampton (SGS), Andrew Fenn (SKT) & Boy Van Poppel (UHC).
The trio were over two minutes ahead when Andrew Fenn took the first Yodel sprint of the day at Stone with Van Poppel.
A chase group conaining five Team Sky Riders, plus riders from HTC, Leopard Trek and Rabobank set off after the trio. They cauught them and this formed a pivoltal split with now 26 riders including Cavendish, Daniel Lloyd, Geraint Thomas and Alex Dowsett at the front.
There had been a crash before the split and one of the fallers - Barry Markus was forced to abandon the race with nasty gashes to his arms.
With less than 20kms to go, the leaders were hitting speeds of 35mph, all in a long line down the road whilst a chasing group including Ben Swift were twenty seconds back.
Alex Dowsett attacked and had an eight second lead as HTC Highroad set a fast pace on the front. That increased to thirteen seconds as the race entered the Wedgewood estate and twenty seconds with ten kilometres to go.
HTC Highroad tried to chase Dowsett back but did not get any assistance as Dowsett headed towards the finish in Stoke On Trent.
Dowsett was finally caught before the line and it was Lars Boom who came out of a bunch sprint to take the victory ahead of Michael Matthews for a Rabobank one-two.
Geraint Thomas was third with Steve Cummings fourth and Mark Cavendish fifth.
Lars Boom now takes over the leaders jersey by three seconds from Mark Cavendish.
The Tour of Britain, Stage Three, The Stoke-on-Trent Stage Results
Stage Result
1)Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank)3h 23m 42s
2)Michael Matthews (Aus, Rabobank)same time
3)Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky Procycling)same time
4)Steve Cummings (GB, Sky Procycling)same time
5)Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC Highroad)same time
6)Ian Bibby (GB, Motorpoint)same time
7)Jonathan Tiernan Locke (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp)same time
8)Jelle Wallays (Bel, Topsport Vlaanderen)same time
9)Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek)same time
10)Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post)same time
Stage Three Combativity Award:Andrew Fenn (AN Post Sean Kelly)
Individual General Classification, after Stage Three
1)Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank)8h 04m 35s
2)Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC Highroad)@ 0.03
3)Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky Procyling)@ 0.06
4)Michael Matthews (Aus, Rabobank)@ 0.07
5)Boy Van Poppel (Ned, UnitedHealthcare)@ 0.08
6)Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post)same time
7)Ian Bibby (GB, Motorpoint)@ 0.13
8)Linus Gerdemann (Ger, Leopard Trek)same time
9)Steve Cummings (GB, Sky Procycling)same time
10)Daniel Lloyd (GB, Garmin Cervelo)same time
The Prostate Cancer Charity Points Classification, after Stage Three
1)Mark Cavendish (GB, HTC - Highroad)26pts
2)Geraint Thomas (GB, Sky Procycling)24pts
3)Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank)23pts
4)Michael Matthews (Aus, Rabobank)14pts
5)Mark Renshaw (Aus, HTC Highroad)14pts
Skoda King of the Mountains Classification, after Stage Three
1)Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized)32pts
2)Jonathan Tiernan Locke (GB, Rapha Condor Sharp)16pts
3)Boy Van Poppel (Ned, UnitedHealthcare)12pts
4)Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post)12pts
5)Steve Cummings (GB, Sky Procycling)12pts
Yodel Sprints Classification, after Stage Three
1)Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel, AN Post)17pts
2)Russell Hampton (GB, Sigma Sport - Specialized)13pts
3)Boy Van Poppel (Ned, UnitedHealthcare)8pts
4)Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post)8pts
5)Lars Boom (Ned, Rabobank)6pts
UNISON Best Young Rider Classification, after Stage Three
1)Michael Matthews (Aus, Rabobank)8h 04m 42s
2)Andrew Fenn (GB, AN Post)@ 0.01
3)Jan-Bert Lindemann (Ned, Vacansoleil DCM)@ 0.06
4)Jelle Wallays (Bel, Tosport Vlaanderen)same time
5)Willem Wauters (Bel, Vacansoleil DCM)@ 4.30