By Gareth James
Stevie Williams has vowed to fight to hold onto the leader’s jersey after powering to his first ever victory in the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain.
The 28-year-old rider from Aberystwyth outsprinted Oscar Onley, and former race winner Julian Alaphilippe for the stage two win in Redcar on Wednesday.
The win took Williams to the top of the overall standings – six seconds clear of Onley – with Alaphilippe in third, 16 seconds back. Stage-one winner Paul Magnier dropped to ninth.
"It's the kind of race where things can get out of hand pretty quick!"
Stevie Williams after winning stage two of the #TourOfBritain@IsraelPremTech | @ITV pic.twitter.com/b3icExua9W
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) September 4, 2024
Williams – riding for the Israel Premier Tech team – took the win in a three-up sprint after an attritional day of racing from Darlington to Redcar.
“It’s really good to get my hands in the air,” said Williams.
“It was a really tough day out, especially the last hour and a half when the race opened up. I think the way we rode meant we always had numbers everywhere and we showed that in the final, so I’m over the moon to get my hands in the air in the UK.
“The aim now is to try and hold onto the jersey. It’s not the easiest job in the world.
“It takes a lot of things going right and a strong team. We have the strong team so hopefully everything goes right on the road and we’ll see what happens in the next few days.”
https://twitter.com/itvcycling/status/1831329699437379997
The third and final categorised climb of Lythe Bank, on the North Yorkshire coast proved pivotal, with double Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallist Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) attacking from the main peloton, taking Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers, Oscar Onley (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Williams with him.
Alaphilippe then forced a move clear resulting in a group of seven, including Onley and Williams, and on the final ascent up Saltburn Bank, Williams attacked hard, with Onley the only rider to respond.
The pair worked together well, with Alaphilippe chasing solo behind.
The French rider eventually bridged over with 7km remaining, racking up a lead of 20 seconds.
https://twitter.com/TourofBritain/status/1831330255371448415
Entering the final straight to the finish, it was a real cat and mouse sprint to the line, with the
riders watching each other before Alaphilippe bit first.
The Frenchman was unable to match the power of Williams though, with the Welsh rider powering to the win as Onley took third.
Williams now leads the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, with four stages remaining.
Stage three on Thursday sees the Tour return to South Yorkshire for the first time since 2007.
The 166-kilometre stage will take in all four boroughs of South Yorkshire (Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield), starting from Arundel Gate in Sheffield city centre at 11am, and finishing on County Way in Barnsley, with live coverage on ITV4 from 10:45am.
https://twitter.com/cylimit_game/status/1831330162702422479
Stages
Stage one Tuesday 3 September – Kelso to Kelso
Stage two Wednesday 4 September – Darlington to Redcar
Stage three Thursday 5 September – Sheffield to Barnsley
Stage four Friday 6 September – Derby to Newark-on-Trent
Stage five Saturday 7 September – Northampton to Northampton
Stage six Sunday 8 September – Lowestoft to Felixstowe