Belgian cyclist Wout Van Aert will fight today to regain the lead of the Tour of Britain that he lost two days ago to local Ethan Hayter.
Havana, September 11 (RHC)-- Belgian cyclist Wout Van Aert will fight today to regain the lead of the Tour of Britain that he lost two days ago to local Ethan Hayter.
Van Aert, of the Jumbo-Visma team, won the sixth stage of the race the day before, a 198-kilometer segment starting in the town of Carlisle and finishing in Gateshead.
The Belgian rider set a time of 4:35:57 hours to beat Briton Hayter and Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, his escorts on the podium in that order, in the sprint.
That was Van Aert's third stage success so far in the race after winning at the start and then on the fourth day, so he will try this Saturday to win again in the 194.8-kilometer section between Hawick and Edinburgh.
To do so, he will have to be more than four seconds ahead of his fiercest rival, who has a time of 22:53:32 hours.
Behind both are the Frenchman Alaphilippe, 21 seconds behind; the Danish Mikkel Frolich, 35 seconds behind; and the Canadian Michael Woods, 54 seconds behind.
Tomorrow he will race the final stage, which will have a 173-kilometer route starting in Stonehaven and closing in Aberden.
Overall classification:
Ethan Hayter (GBR/Ineos Grenadiers) 22:53:32 hours.
Wout Van Aert (BEL/Jumbo-Visma) at 0:04 seconds.
Julian Alaphilippe (FRA/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 0:21 '.
Mikkel Frolich Honoré (DEN/Deceuninck-Quick Step) 0:35 '.
Michael Woods (CAN/Israel Start-Up Nation) 0:54 '.
Rohan Dennis (AUS/Ineos Grenadiers) 1:08 minutes.
Daniel Martin (IRL/Israel Start-Up Nation) 1:10 '.
Kristian Sbaragli (ITA/Alpecin-Fenix) 1:37 '.
Mark Donovan (GBR/Dsm) 1:58 '.
Carlos Rodríguez (ESP/Ineos Grenadiers) 2:01'.