Steve Williams’s annus mirabilis took another turn on the seafront at Redcar, with an emphatic win on stage two of the Tour of Britain after the final 50km through the North York Moors and Cleveland hills witnessed a ding-dong battle between Israel-PremierTech and Soudal-Quickstep.
In the end Soudal’s double world champion, Julian Alaphilippe, was unable to get past Williams after the Welshman led out the sprint in the final metres. The 28-year-old from Aberystwyth now wears the green leader’s jersey six seconds ahead of the young Scot, Oscar Onley, who finished third behind Alaphilippe.
With the next group including Remco Evenepoel and Joe Blackmore finishing 21sec back, and the toughest hills now behind, the overall title should be decided between the Frenchman and the two Britons, either of whom could become the first home rider to win this race since Steve Cummings in 2016.
This has already been a stellar year for Williams, who won the Tour Down Under in January and added the Flèche Wallonne classic in April. As he noted after the finish, this is not the first time he has led a stage race, having also taken the Arctic Race of Norway and the CRO Race in Croatia.
“The key today was to be in front,” he said, “and when the race opened up, be there in numbers. The goal was to get me to the finish in a small group; the tactic was to be on the front foot.”
The race came alight on the roads heading up the coast from Whitby, with Evenepoel pulling Williams, Onley and Alaphilippe clear of the peloton on the climb of Lythe Bank with 48km remaining, rapidly closing on a breakaway including Blackmore.
That group split apart over the two final ascents of Saltburn Bank, with Evenepoel and Blackmore duelling before the final climb, where Williams pressed on with Onley and Alaphilippe in his wake.
The big absentees were Tom Pidcock and Ineos, who had a nightmare stage reflecting the squad’s current lack of momentum, with Pidcock unable to follow the favourites on Lythe Bank.
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Even with the Olympic mountain bike champion out of the picture, the overall standings are dominated by home racers, including one surprise, the amateur Louis Sutton, who rides for AVC Aix-en-Provence and rode a stellar stage in Great Britain colours. He was the only rider from the early escape to make the final cut and lies fifth overall.
Also in the early move was the King of the Mountains, Callum Thornley, who took enough points over the stage’s three first-category ascents to seal the title with three days remaining. The overall standings, on the other hand, could see more change on Thursday with more stiff little ascents en route to Sheffield.
