Tour of Britain (st. 2)

Lastras spends another day in the break this summer, gets caught with less than 7km remaining; final attacks by Ion Izagirre and Dowsett, now 6th overall in Tour of Britain

Always showing courage in every single race they take part in, the Movistar Team showed great attitude in the 200km -including three Cat-2 hills in the finale- of stage two in the Tour of Britain, starting at the safari park of Knowsley and finishing at the coastal Welsh city of Llandudno. After a really contested break, which did not form before the first intermediate sprint was won by Alex Dowsett -the three-second bonus taking him into 6th overall-, Pablo Lastras made the eventual split of six riders, whose hopes were boosted as the gap stayed stable at 3′ until the 25km-to-go mark.

Combined action by OPQS, Sky and Tinkoff at the front of the peloton ultimately ruined Penkas’ chances, the Madrilian attacking briefly into the Great Orme ascent before getting dropped. The Blues did not stay content with that, jumping twice into the descent with Ion Izagirre and Dowsett himself and adding excitement to a finish ultimately decided into a bunch kick won by Renshaw (OPQ). After two group finishes, Tuesday will take the riders up The Tumble (Cat-1), almost 5km with slopes exceeding 10%, closing 180km which will start at Newtown.