Endura Racing's Jonathan Tiernan Locke won the Tour Of Britain this afternoon after Mark Cavendish took the final stage.
A final stage eight from Reigate to Guildford saw big crowds out as Simon Richardson of Sigma Sport, Jack Bobridge of Orica Green Edge, Pete Williams of Node4 and Kreder of Vacansoleil escape.
Pete Williams took the first two sprints of the day to give him the points jersey as their gap from the peloton that included race leader Jonathan Tiernan Locke, who is being linked with a move to Team Sky and second placed Nathan Haas, stretched to two minutes.
The first King Of The Mountains climb was won by Richardson who won the second ahead of Bobridge.
Williams took the final sprint at Oakley before Mark Cavendish punctured and Richardson took the third KOM climb points, a jersey won by Kristian House before the riders moved onto the category one Barhatch Lane climb as Net App got to the front and reduced the quartet's lead to 29 seconds.
That was soon wiped out and Tiernan-Locke was now on the front leading the race with 46kms to go. He was replaced by Samuel Sanchez, the most aggressive rider from yesterday, Jack Bobridge and Holohan of Team Raleigh.
They were eight seconds clear of a chasing group and thirty seconds back to the peloton which now included Mark Cavendish, who had put in a good shift to get back.
Jack Bobridge tried to get away with 32kms to go and ten kilometres later had built a twenty second lead.
Team Sky were closing him down. Bagdonis got to him and took over at the front with 12.7kms to go.
Urtasun took over but he was caught by the Team Sky train at Wonersch.
Jeremy Hunt in his final race took to the front with 5kms to go.
Up onto the the cobblers on the Finish line at Guildford https://twitter.com/TourofBritain/status/247337563113807872/photo/1
and it was Mark Cavendish who took the win in a time of 3.33.05 ahead of Boy Van Poppel and Fabio Sabatini. Russell Downing was fourth.
Picture http://twitpic.com/avc122
Tiernan-Locke from Plymouth won the race overall by eighteen seconds from Nathan Hass and became the first British rider to win the race in its new format.
Cavendish, in his last day in the rainbow jersey, praised the crowds and his team-mates who had got him to the line.
